Journeying With The Holy Spirit Through Lent

By TOM DENNEHY

The forty days of Lent are associated with the forty days when Jesus fasted in the desert at the beginning of His missionary life.

“Jesus was now full of the Holy Spirit. As He returned from the Jordan the Spirit led Him into the desert to be tempted by The Devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights and afterwards was hungry.” Luke 4; 1.2.

He was in the wilderness alone with God, His Father in prayer and with all of Creation. At his weakest moment, He was tempted by The Devil but had the resolve to overcome the temptations by quoting from Sacred Scripture.

The Temptations of Jesus.

1. The Devil then said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to turn into bread.” But Jesus answered him, “Scripture says, “People cannot live on bread alone.”

2. Then The Devil took Him up a high place and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment in time, and said to Him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me and I give it to whom I will. If you then will worship me, it will be all yours.”

But Jesus replied, “Scripture says, “You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone”

3. Then he took Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you, and on their hands they will bear you

up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”

And Jesus answered him, “It is said, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test” and when The Devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until another opportune time.

We know that The Devil returned to tempt Jesus during His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, again at his weakest moment. Just as Jesus was tempted so also are we tempted on our journey through Lent to try to persuade us to cease our prayers and fasting. He waits for every opportunity to tempt us away from our path to know and to serve God and our fellow man. Jesus has conquered sin and death by His death on the cross so let us claim that victory in His mighty name.

So during our Lenten journey, let us continue to journey with Jesus as we prepare to celebrate the great Easter Triduum and help us appreciate the great sacrifice Jesus has made for us.

Ways we can come closer to Jesus during Lent.

1. Get to Mass more often especially on Sunday.

2. Spend time in Adoration as this is the best way to get to know the living Jesus. He is really there waiting to pour out His Love and His graces upon us.

3. Spend time reading The Bible every day and get to know the person of Jesus Christ. Read even a short passage and meditate on it. Read the Sunday readings before you go to your weekend Mass. We see the power of Scripture when Jesus overcame the temptations of The Devil.

4. Do the Stations of the Cross - they bring us closer to Jesus and help us to realise the great sacrifice he has made for our salvation.

5. Pray the rosary every day. The rosary is a meditation on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Do it every day for six months and it will change your life and the lives of others.

6. Fasting is praying with our physical bodies and gives great power to our prayer life and gives tremendous control over our temptations.

7. Give donations to the poor during Lent. We are very privileged and when we look around the world we see how much our financial help is needed.

8. Look at our use of our mobile phones. Limit our use especially during evening time. Maintain contact by ringing friends especially the vulnerable.

9. Invoke the Holy Spirit who makes Jesus present to us and invite Him into your heart so that you can develop a personal relationship with Him.

Message of Our Lady of Medjugorje on March 25th 2007:

“Dear children; I desire to thank you from my heart for your Lenten renunciations. I desire to inspire you to continue to fast with an open heart. By fasting and renunciation, little children, you will be stronger in faith. In God you will find true peace through daily prayer. I am with you. I desire to take you all with me to Heaven, therefore, decide daily for holiness. Thank you for having responded to my call.”