Daybreaks: Daily Reflections for Lent & Easter
by Ron Rolheiser, OMI

“Jesus said, ‘If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”.

(JOHN 8:31-32)

“Before they could enter the Promised Land, Scripture says the Israelites first had to wander in the desert for forty years – letting themselves be led by God, undergoing many trials. The desert came to be seen as the place that correctly shapes the heart, and the idea developed that one should prepare for major transitions by first spending time in the desert.   

Later, as the Scriptures developed, the concept of desert was made symbolic. It came to mean more a place in the heart than a place on a map and was understood to be mystical: before you are ready to fully and gratefully receive life, you have to first be readied by facing your own demons, which means going “into the desert”, namely entering that place where you are most frightened, lonely, and threatened.

The desert does this for you. It empties you. Hence it is not a place wherein you can decide how you want to grow and change, but it is a place that you undergo, expose yourself to, and have the courage to face. The desert purifies you, almost against you will, through God’s efforts. 

The season of Lent is meant to be a time in the desert to courageously face the chaos and the demons within us. The result is that we are purified, made ready, so that the intoxicating joy of Easter might then serve to bind us more closely by God” (40).