Every year when Lent begins, that first Sunday begins with the story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness.  Every year it is repeated in different words – those of Matthew, and Mark, and Luke.  We know the story of Jesus going up into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, of him resisting the temptations, and coming back ready to preach and begin his mission.  But does that mean we actually know the story?  While I was preparing myself for the Lenten journey this year I was struck by the realization that, while I knew the story, in many ways I no longer did; I no longer had let it penetrate into the depths of my heart to move me, calling out to me to re-orient my life back to Whom I owe everything.  If you will, allow me a few moments to try and articulate some of that re-orientation that I think is valuable in this Lenten season, but also all year long.

The story begins, after Jesus is baptized, that he goes off into the wilderness, Matthew noting that he fasted there for 40 days and nights.  There are other 40s in the Bible that earlier readers would immediately pick up on, two in particular.  When God sent the flood, it rained for 40 days and nights.  Noah and his family were alone in the Ark upon the wilderness of a tumultuous sea, trusting that they would finally find a safe harbour and journey to a renewed land.  The Israelites, having been led out of slavery in Egypt, wandered and were tested in the wilderness for 40 years before being led into the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is often described.  The number is not new, but then neither is the wilderness, it is a place of testing, of trial, of purification, but not of home.

Jesus goes into the wilderness to be tested and to focus his thoughts on the task ahead; it is a way station, but not the destination.  After 40 days of fasting, the Tempter comes; “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves a bread.”

There is an old understanding that in the temptations we see a prefiguration of the temptations that we humans face, and that in Jesus’ response are the responses that should be on our own lips.  Jesus answers Satan by saying, ‘It is written: you shall not live by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of God.”  It answers the temptation by quoting from the Bible.  If one ever needs a reason to know and read the Bible we have it here: when Jesus is tempted, his first thought is to go to the Bible, which records the history of the interaction between God and humans.  It is interesting, too, that the words from Jesus’ lips are the words spoken by Moses during that other great period of trial and testing in the wilderness from the Bible, the journey of the Israelites through the wilderness.

There, in Deuteronomy 8, the words that seem to slip so easily off of Jesus’ lips, Moses is telling a story to the assembled people of Israel.  It is their story; the story of them and God.  God took them out of Egypt, the land of slavery, fulfilling his own promises to their ancestors, leading the people into “a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and undergrounds waters welling up in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack for nothing”.  That was the promise, but they got there because it was God who fed them, gave them water and shelter, along the way providing for them not only materially but also spiritually.  It was in the wilderness, afterall, that God gave the 10 commandments.  It was in the wilderness that God gave them bread from heaven, the bread of angels.  God provided for them, so they could turn their thoughts and hearts to God.  Humans shall not live by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of God.

So, Jesus is not dismissing bread, but putting it in its proper place: God will provide.  I have trusted Him in the past, other people have trusted Him in the past, and we have not been disappointed; in what we have needed, God will provide, so trust in him and allow yourself to turn your attention to hearing God, listening to his Word.

But above and beyond that, as Deuteronomy makes clear, do not forget that the Wilderness is not the Promised Land.  This is easy to forget.  I had forgotten it for a very long time, or at least did not let it impact me in the way it should.  We are in the Wilderness.  This is not the Promised Land.  That is why Jesus can easily say to not store up treasures here on Earth: it is the Wilderness, and we do not know when we will have to leave them behind.  It then makes sense when Jesus says that he is going away to prepare the mansion, our home, for us, and that he will be waiting for us there: this is not the Promised Land, our homes here are temporary.

If this is the Wilderness, a period of testing and trial, then many things make sense.  In the Wilderness, we must take care of one another, we must lift up the community and protect it against those forces that would destroy it.  We need to be community, to love one another, but also it becomes each person’s responsibility to protect that community from those both within and without – to stand up, with the Word of God by your side (a triple meaning there if ever there was one), and speak truth to power, for the good of the community, and not for oneself, clique, or ideology.  We are travelling in this Wilderness together; we need to help one another.

But that also means a relationship with the Earth as stewards, for in the desert you protect the watering holes, the oases you find.  If you do not, then they are ruined for others, and for yourself when you might need them again: they are not yours alone, but serve all.  And the stranger you find, wandering alone in that wilderness?  The laws of the wilderness, the real deserts of the earth where people roam, insist upon hospitality.  You must open your home to the stranger, feed them, let them drink, for you never know when it might be you who is buffeted by storms, finding yourself alone, thirsty and hungry in a dry land.  After all, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”

We are in the Wilderness, as Jesus was 2000 years ago.  But what he recognized in the temptations was that it was not only the physical wilderness of desert, but the Wilderness of the human condition, longing and thirsting for something more, which was the true state of that Wilderness.  The Israelites did not despise the earth, nor did Jesus, nor should we, but rather recognize in this Wilderness its proper place.  It is not the Promised Land, the land we are journeying toward.  Jesus’s response in each of the temptations makes that well known.  Each response harkens back to the story of the Israelites in the Wilderness.  Each of them is a call to trust in God, yes, but not just an abstract, amorphous trust.  Trust in God because he has proven Himself trustworthy, in your own life, in the life of the Church, in the life of the Israelites.  Trust in God because he is trying to teach us trust so that we may reach the Promised Land and enjoy the goodness and bounty that He offers, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”

That is very nice in the abstract Nathan, a thought might be, but how does it look – can it look like anything – in the practical?  Well, here is how it is helping to change my own perspective.

This last year has been a hard one.  Being Director of the Newman Centre is always a challenge, not because there is no joy to it, but because it means opening your heart and keeping it open to every criticism, every concern, every harsh word, because the alternative is a hardness of heart that makes the heart a stone.  If it is a stone, how can I move through the Wilderness to the Promised Land?  This land is not my permanent home, but I must be for others – I must be for His People – helping all those others that are joined with me in community journeying through the Wilderness: I must constantly be open to changing, leaving behind those parts of me that do not help the community but harm it.  I must do everything I can so that my People, His People, all that God has chosen, reach the Promised Land.

I do not know what will happen after July 31^st, there is a blank, nothingness that I cannot see beyond.  My path is obscured by the uncertainty of really not knowing where I will be – a darkness many of you might be facing – but then the Israelites didn’t know where they were going either, only the destination, and that along with trust in God is what sustained them: God, who is trustworthy, is taking them to the Promised Land; “I do not ask to see the distant scene; one step enough for me.”

I am married to an amazing, wonderful wife.  We are a family.  But … there is no third that seems to be the promise, seems to come so easily to so many, of the Christian family.  It is hard.  We do not know why.  Except, this is the Wilderness, not the Promised Land.  This is a period of testing, of leading us in ways known only to Him, so that we might find the Promised Land together.  So I will trust in Him.  He is worthy of trust, and this testing is but one part of the journey – it is not the destination.

There are many others, but hopefully you get the picture.  This is Lent.  It beckons up with opportunities.  It beckons us forward into the journey of a lifetime, but that means it is a journey: we are not yet home.

Lead, Kindly Light, amidst th’encircling gloom,

Lead Thou me on!

The night is dark, and I am far from home,

Lead Thou me on!

Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see

The distant scene; one step enough for me.

 By Nathan Gibbard, Director of the Newman Centre

A THINKfast participant shares a reflection on what they learned from the experience of a 25-hour fast in solidarity with the world’s poor and hungry:

ThinkFast gave me some needed insight on the state-of-being that is hunger, and the relationship between the giving of food and a relationship with God. Reflection with my compatriots brought me to the conclusion that in the eating of food, you give blessing and thanks to the Lord for providing the sustenance you need to live. As an agent of Christ, therefore, everyone is called to spread that extraordinary love that God has for all creation, especially those who go without food on a daily basis. Every single person is a part of this closed, complete, and complex system, and no one is above that framework; we must all act as agents of this profound love in order to keep the balance of this system in equilibrium. In the end, in the act of denying your sister or brother in Christ a simple meal, you are in some sense denying Christ himself. The fate of the gospel, let alone the world, rests in this simple truth.

Benjamin Miller

As nominations open for the 2014-2015 NCSS executive, it may be helpful to know a little more about what each portfolio does, plus what the new portfolios will be all about, so without any further ado, I present to you…

What exactly does that portfolio do?!

VP Social Justice

Your position works with other Newmanites and external groups to raise awareness about social justice issues and provide material support to the poor in Montreal and around the world. Each year, the VP Social Justice may choose to focus on different activities (ex. clothing drives, sandwiches for the homeless, THINKfast etc.). Some more permanent projects include our partnerships with a parish in the Philippines and setting Newmanites up with volunteer opportunities. If you have a heart for the poor and disadvantaged, then this is the job for you!

VP Social Activities

When it’s time to ‘let off some steam’ during midterms or after exams, you are the one that we will turn to! Whether it’s pumpkin carving, or planning  a trip to play laser tag, you infuse our community with fun activities! Your biggest responsibilities will be planning each semester’s coffee house, and the Newman Ball in March… which is no easy task, but totally worth the effort!

VP Saturday Night Suppers

The name is pretty self-explanatory. Your job is to organize weekly SNS. At the beginning of the semester, you put up a sign-up sheet and ask your fellow Newmanites to sign up to cook each Saturday. Each Saturday your role could be as little as, just checking in to make sure they know where the frying pans are, to helping them lug groceries back to Newman, to emergency cooking if no one signs up. Your role also includes planning special meals (like the Advent dinner, Thanksgiving etc.) and doing other acts of hospitality around the centre (ex. tea and cookies for after an adoration evening).

VP Outreach

NEW POSITION – This new portfolio contains two major parts: evangelization and interfaith/ecumenism. The Evangelization side of things revolves around actively sharing the faith with McGill students. This needn’t be intimidating, we have events such as 60-second surveys at orientation events, Fish Frosh, activities night, and Catholic Students’ Week to give you a head start. You will also take the lead on welcoming students to Newman and following up with them at the beginning of the semester. Regarding interfaith/ecumenism, you (or your designate) will be the NCSS representative to interfaith council and chaplaincy. You will also be called upon to find opportunities to share in prayer and service activities with other Christian groups.  It’s a big job, but also super rewarding!

VP Spiritual

NEW POSITION – This new portfolio will be responsible for running the NCSS Faith Studies program, which currently has about 10-15 groups each semester. You will also be called upon to liaise with the chaplain and priest on our student-run liturgical ministries (ex. choir, lectors, acolytes) and think of ways for Newmanites to enter more fully into liturgical seasons with as lent and advent.

VP Communications

NEW POSITION – Your portfolio will include the former jobs of webmaster and publicity, which will include monitoring our social media presence, updating the website, coordinating mass announcements and sending the weekly listserv. But don’t worry, you can appoint up to three coordinators to help you out!

VP Finance

You can’t actually run for VP Finance this year, because a deputy treasurer was already selected under the rules of the old constitution last fall. But come 2015, the position will be up for election, so if you are great at keeping track of money, doing audits and fundraising, then stay tuned!

President

As president, you coordinate with SSMU, the Newman Centre and its board, you call and chair meetings and you put out fires when necessary. It takes a special individual with a servant’s heart to be the president, but we know you are out there somewhere!

You might be thinking that I’m getting this entire Lent thing confused with Valentine’s day. Let me assure you, that it is not so, and that at the end of this article you will find that God is a mad lover and that Lent is truly a season to love.

My memories of Lent from the time I was an altar boy eons ago, has a very gloomy and melancholy disposition. It was a period of penitence, reflection and reconciliation. There were special prayers in the church, the jesuit friars conducted weeklong retreats, the bells were replaced by wooden clappers , Holy mass was followed by stations of the cross and the entire community was submerged in a milieu of lamentation. For us youngsters, this was not a fun time. We couldn’t make merry, there won’t be any festivities and our kitchens won’t see meat or desserts for many weeks. If we could, we would have fast forwarded the time to Easter vigil.

How do we go from Lent as a portrait of lamentation to a season of love ? For many of us it is difficult to comprehend the necessity of God sending his only begotten son to die on the cross. Yet without Christ’s death and resurrection there won’t be Christianity.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” [John 3:16]

The crucifixion of Christ is the ultimate symbol of God’s love for humanity. It is perhaps the best example of irrational and illogical nature of God’s love, for which we find other abundant examples in the Gospel passages (viz. the parable of the prodigal son, parables of the lost sheep and that of the lost coin [Luke 15:1-32] ).  God is definitely not a vulcan.

Scripture characterises Love as God’s defining property.

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” [1 John 4:8 ]

So while Lent is a season of reflection, reconciliation and penitence, it is also an apt time to reflect on God’s abundant love for us, to ameliorate his pain and suffering caused by our transgressions and to reciprocate his love, carry that cross and bring forth joy. Our trespasses afflict our relationship with God, who like a lover abandoned by his soul mate suffers pain and agony. Through penitence and reconciliation we mend the broken relationship, reciprocating God’s love, who now like a lover finding his true love, rejoices. Thus it’s written

“ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” [Luke 15:7].

Christ doesn’t call us to rent our garments and wear sack cloths as an act of penitence, in fact he is very explicit to criticize any visible gesture of the act.

“And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, who try to look pale and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I assure you, that is the only reward they will ever get.  But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face.” [Mathew 6:16-17]

Christian life is also incomplete without a cross, Jesus reminds us in the Gospel passage that our calling to follow includes a cross, a burden and sacrifice.

“Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” [ Luke 14:27 ]

In other words, he asks us to endure the suffering with a smile on our lips.

We can take a cue from Christ’s sacrifice to emulate in our own lives this season of lent. What gave Christ the strength to carry the cross ? it was his unbounded love for us.Though we let go of some of our indulgences as an act of penitence, we often find it hard to carry the burden. What makes a mother’s suffering from birth pangs suddenly change to burgeoning joy on seeing the face of her baby ? it’s her bountiful love for her child. In other words love is the key ingredient in taking suffering and pain away from sacrifices.

Scripture exhorts us the importance of love persistently.

“He said to him.’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’. “ [ Mathew 22:37-38 ]

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” [ John 15: 12-13 ]

“And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”[Colossians 3:14 ]

“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” [1 John 4:7 ]

“Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.”[1Peter 4:8]

Perhaps my favorite of all is St. Paul’s first epistle to Corinthians where he affirms the importance of love to a divided church community.

“If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends.”[1 Corinthians 13:1-8a]

He then goes on to proclaim

“And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”[1Corinthians 13:13]

There’s no better gift for a father to have but to see his children love their siblings.This Lent, let us reconcile with our Heavenly Father, give forth from the bottom of our hearts, love and cherish the joys of sacrifice, part take in God’s merciful and unbounded love and complete the circle. So love one another, sacrifice your indulgences with a smile as  prayer offerings for people whom you love and cherish,  and you will find the amazing strength to carry them all the way. Just remember to wrap it all in loads of love.

Boyzone had it just about right when they sang, “Love me for a reason, Let the reason be Love”.

Dear friends, have a blessed, loving Lenten season !

By: Joseph D’Silva