Do we need Lent Now?

Do we need Lent  -  Now?

It's so cold and wintery - and I'd rather snuggle up like a couch potato rather than embark out into the desert of lent. Do we need lent now?

There was a time when Christians thought they didn't need lent.
The first real Lenten people were not Christians at all, but those preparing to become Christians. They wore sackcloth and ashes & 
and lived the days before Easter as repentant sinners.
All of this changed when the old timers in the Christian Community noticed something remarkable after the Easter Baptism. They were struck by the Joy and the radiant faces of those just Baptised - and so they too longed to experience the thrill of new birth, new life. 

And so the next year some Christians began to join the Catechumens in their preparation for baptism at Easter.
They Realized that they had become too Ho-Hum in their faith
and decided to do something about it. They too took on sackcloth and ashes & lived as repentant sinners so that they could feel once again the joy of rebirth at Easter. That’s how Lent gradually came to be observed in the church - out of a Need.

Jesus is lead into the desert by the spirit in the Gospel from the first Sunday of Lent. He had just been baptized,  and was full of the Holy Spirit. In the desert Jesus found his first temptations.
Jesus realized who he was and what he was called to do.
He was not the first to be tempted – yet his overcoming temptation 
is a sign - we too can overcome our temptations - whatever they may be. 

Temptation is not necessarily something which draws us towards evil. To tempt also means to try out, to test. Out of the Testing,  Out of the Tempting,  Out of the desert - Jesus realized who he was and what he was called to do.

We cannot force lent upon ourselves, - each of us must find a need for it, a need in ourselves, a need to go out into the desert:
to face both our giftedness and our limitations,
a need to face ourselves, our demons, and our God.
To prepare for Baptism – To prepare to renew our Baptismal Promises.

Even though it is a winter wonderland,  and it all seems so uncomfortable, let’s go into the desert together!!! 
As Brothers and Sisters in Christ prepared to follow God’s Spirit,
Wherever it will lead us!