Going into the Desert

First Sunday of Lent

March 9, 2014

Matthew 4:1-11

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert…(Mat 4:1)”

A certain monk once says that we need to explore a new place at least once a year. At first, the idea seems so typical. I like to go places and one new location a year is just below my standard. Yet, why does a monk, who never even goes out his monastery, suggest this idea? Living inside the monastery complex, he can visit all the corners of his building within a week! I realize it has to be something a lot profound. It is not only about leisure travel to any breathtaking spot on earth like Giza Pyramid in Egypt or Eiffel tower in Paris, but a journey towards our own heart. In fact, it may be the toughest and roughest journey a person ever traverses!

We are the children of this contemporary generation, usually dubbed as ‘digital generation’. Older people who attempt to master these new technologies are classified as ‘digital migrants’, while those youngsters who were born into these gadgets are called ‘digital natives’. Whether we are migrants or native, the reality is that we cannot escape from this wireless web of modern devices. A friend, a manager in a certain bank, shares to me that he receives 200 plus emails every morning. It is not uncommon to notice little kids, in Metro Manila, are so engrossed in their iPad or Tablets, forgetting the rest of humanity. I myself am guilty of this as I spend big chunk of my time in front of my laptop just to finish this reflection!

As we are entering the session of Lent, Jesus is inviting us to journey to unlikely place, the desert. I have never seen a desert, but we can assume that this is the place of solitude and where life faces its barest form. We do not have to spend thousand dollars to go to Holy Land to experience the desert because there is a place in us that possess the wilderness’ fixtures; it is our inner selves, our hearts. But, the massive problem is as digital generation, we are highly distracted. These gadgets are impressively advantageous for human lives, but they pull us away farther and farther from ourselves. Yes, I can now easily communicate with my family in Indonesia through BlackBerry, but from now and then, I am always tempted to check and browse over it. Modern people are even more concerned with what they hold in their hands than what is inside their hearts.

Lenten season becomes an opportunity for us to put aside our ‘post-modern’ identity, leave behind our devices, and enter into silence. In the desert, we might find our crude desires, discover how weak we are and even the devil working in us. Yet, without this journey, we never encounter the angels who will comfort us and God who faithfully walks with us through thick and thin of life.

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP