March 8, 2017 – From Sr.Mary Pat Cook

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert … the wilderness. He had just been baptized and heard “This is my Beloved, my Chosen One …” In the desert, he is tempted: “If you are the Chosen One …” you can turn rocks into bread and rule the world. You can be God. In the desert Jesus spends 40 days listening for the voice that spoke at his baptism, the voice of his God, the voice that would reveal to him what it means for him to be chosen, to be Beloved. That is the real call of Lent. Each of us is also chosen and beloved. Each of us is called to the desert to listen to our hearts where God will speak. At the end of those 40 days, Jesus knew that being chosen was not about turning rocks into bread. It is about listening to God … who speaks to your heart in the midst of your desert which looks amazingly like your everyday life.