As we enter into the season of Lent, we reflect upon Jesus’ forty day experience in the desert.  In the Gospels, we read how He was led by the Spirit into the desert. 
         That same Spirit is leading each of us into the desert of Lent –a renewal time in which we attempt to sharpen our focus on God by disassociating    ourselves from the clutter of life which, unfortunately, has a tendency to capture our hearts and cloud our  spiritual vision. We strive to focus on our calling as Christians through the traditional practices of prayer, alms-giving, and fasting. Through our prayer and reflection on the scriptures we try to tune into God’s wave-length; one excellent means of accomplishing this is the “Disciples on the Journey” Faith-Sharing Lenten Process that is being used in many of our parishes. Alms-giving, -sharing our time and resources with our needy brothers and sisters- is a reminder that we are called to be stewards of material blessings rather than allowing them to distract us or to create an allusion of vain self-importance.
        Fasting is a means of developing that inner discipline which will strengthen our character and clarify our spiritual vision.  Fasting applies not only to food, but to any actions or words that are not helpful, and may even be harmful, to ourselves or others. Then, renewed and strengthened, we, like Jesus, can discern the difference between fleeting temporal illusions and inspirations that contribute to the realization of God’s Kingdom
        We don’t need to wait for the devil to subject us to temptation.  Our society itself is doing a very good job of that.  We are constantly being bombarded with current ideas and events that compromise or violate the sanctity of life and morality.
        Let’s look at an example of humans undermining the sanctity of life.   It the invasive “culture of death” which had so distressed Pope John Paul II that he called the universal Church to promote a “culture of life.”  Our society has been lulled into a complacency which often denies the God-given right to life of the unborn, the inconvenient, the aged, the ill, or the troublesome.
        I’m sure you can list other illusions that have a tendency to distort our spiritual vision and dissipate our single-hearted desire to follow our baptismal calling to seek the Kingdom of God.  Let us then allow the Spirit to lead us on our journey through these forty days of Lent.