"Sometimes Lent is a missed opportunity. We focus too much on what we’re going to give up, what we’re going to do, etc. This year, focus on our desire to have a Lent that brings us into contact with Jesus. Where are we going, and why are we going there? Jesus doesn’t go into the desert for himself; he doesn’t have some personal need. He does it for us.

And in a real way, we get to go into the desert as Jesus did. We go with him into the desert because he absolutely wants us to experience what he experiences with the Father. That relationship is everything. But it takes work. It takes tough decisions. And this world, as we know it, doesn’t form us to say “yes” to that. There is a mark on our souls from baptism, and we go into the desert so Jesus can remind us what that means. To claim our inheritance: direct access to God, in everything. But we have to let everything else go to receive this gift.

It’s time to choose to step into the desert.

This Lent, we’ll be working through Born of Fire by Fr. Innocent Montgomery, CFR."