The desert plays a significant part in Scripture: it is a place of both discovery and of getting lost. You may recall that Moses encountered God in the wilderness when he hears a voice from the burning bush.
He discovered something vital to us all that day: God points us in a direction we may not choose for ourselves. Later, however, Moses and his people are lost in the desert for 40 years. We read the finale of that story in today’s first reading.
First Australians have also had an intimate connection with the desert. Many Indigenous cultures danced in time with the desert for countless generations. When the so-called Pintupi Nine made ‘first contact’ after emerging from the Gibson Desert in 1984, they were in excellent health. The same desert could kill Europeans in thirty-six hours or less.
In today’s Gospel, we learn that the Spirit led Jesus to a lonely place. Up to this point in Luke’s Gospel, we have seen Jesus as a member of his family and community. We have met Mary and Joseph and Elizabeth and Simeon and Anna and John the Baptist. Now Jesus must stand on his own and decide what really matters in life. Is he going to rely on material things? Is he going to want power at any price? Is he going to put himself rather than God at the heart of his decision making? These are the temptations of the devil.
Lent presents us with the same choice. Are we going to find our direction or just be lost in the swirling confusion of choices with which life presents us? Project Compassion helps us to find direction by offering us the opportunity to Unite Against Poverty. Are we content for the world to become more and more fragmented. Or would we prefer to stand up against voices of opportunism and exploitation? Every year, Caritas Australia is overwhelmed and grateful that our Catholic communities are so clearly on the side of justice and life .
We pray for greater respect for the environment. May we care deeply for Earth, the place that God has entrusted to our care. May we celebrate the Year of Jubilee year as pilgrims of hope, ready to find the direction towards peace and justice that God wants for us. May we Unite Against Poverty as we grow in respect for all life.
© Project Compassion Sunday Reflection, First Sunday of Lent, Image: www.liturgyhelp.com