Be Not Afraid

‘Be Not Afraid’

Our Lenten Journey with Christ into the Desert

by Archbishop Raymond L. Burke

Desert and evangelization

When Christ began His public ministry of announcing the Kingdom, His ministry of evangelization, He immediately journeyed into the desert for 40 days, to fast and pray (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13). By so doing, He gave us an example of how we, too, must prepare ourselves for the challenge of the new evangelization, of living the Gospel day by day, of meeting the "high standard of ordinary Christian living" (Pope John Paul II). Because prayer and fasting are essential to our life in Christ, our Lord gives us an annual time of strong grace in the Church, Lent. During the 40 days of our Lenten journey with Him into the desert, He purifies us of disordered thoughts, desires and actions, so that our love of God and neighbor may be more like His, may be more pure.

Traditional Lenten penance consists of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Our Lenten penance addresses the entirety of our life, so that, with the help of God’s grace, we may become more like Christ in everything we think and say and do.

Prayer

Through our Lenten prayer, we deepen our relationship with God. Christ leads us to make prayer once again the foundation and inspiration of our daily living. If we are to be Christ’s co-workers in announcing the Gospel, then we, like Christ, must be in daily communication with God the Father. We must pray daily and throughout the day.

Through our Lenten prayer, we make Sunday Mass and daily Mass, if possible, the center of our lives and the source from which our daily prayer and devotional life flow. Our sincere Lenten observance makes us attentive to all of our prayers and devotions, so that they really are a turning of our minds and hearts to God the Father.

Fasting

In the desert of Lent, we are able to look at our stewardship of the material goods which God has given to us for the sake of the Kingdom, for the sake of giving Him glory by serving our brothers and sisters in sacrificial love. In the desert, we come to understand that no material object brings us lasting happiness. Only day-to-day love of God and service of God brings us lasting joy and peace, a joy and peace that no trial or test, no matter how great, can take away.

By our abstinence and fasting from the use of certain foods, we are given grace to see how our use of all God’s manifold gifts may serve better the good of all. Fasting helps us to clarify our vision, our thinking, which can be clouded or confused by the completely secularized culture in which we live.

Pope Benedict XVI, in his Message for Lent 2006, reminds us that our good and the good of the world is found in Christ alone, in His victory over evil. Fasting draws us closer to Christ in making reparation for our sins and the sins of the world, and in seeking the good of every brother and sister, without boundary or exception.

In a particular way, our more frequent access to the Sacrament of Penance during Lent helps us to unite our hearts to the Pierced Heart of Jesus, seeking in Him — in the outpouring of His Holy Spirit into our souls — the victory over evil in our lives and in our world. It is not by accident that the sacrament by which our sins are forgiven is called Penance. Only a heart that has been opened and purified through prayer and fasting can be filled with the mercy and love of God, flowing from the Heart of Jesus.

Almsgiving

Finally, almsgiving leads us to a purer relationship with one another. In a striking way, Pope Benedict XVI, in his Message for Lent 2006, urges us to imitate the mercy of God, the Divine Mercy, which overcomes all evil in our personal lives and in our world. The mercy of God, incarnate in Jesus Christ, overcomes in us every tendency to deny respect to a brother or sister, or to a class of brothers and sisters.

Once again, our secularized culture teaches us that our goods are "ours." In truth, they are God’s gift to us for the service of Him and one another. The Lenten penance of almsgiving leads us to place ourselves and our goods more at the service of our brothers and sisters who are in need. The theme which Pope Benedict XVI chose for his Lenten message reminds us that almsgiving, in a pre-eminent way, expresses our oneness with Christ in looking upon our brothers and sisters and being moved with pity.

Conclusion

May the observance of the holy season of Lent lead you closer to our Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen your witness to Him in your daily living. With Pope Benedict XVI, I confide our observance of Lenten penance in the archdiocese to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, under her title of Our Lady of Guadalupe. When our Blessed Mother visited our continent in 1531, she declared the sole intention of her appearances, namely, to lead us to God’s merciful love, incarnate in her Divine Son. May Our Lady of Guadalupe lead us to her Son, so that, through the days of Lent we may faithfully accompany Him in the desert of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. May she lead us to her Son, so that, with Him, we may carry out our mission of the new evangelization.