"By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert."
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Paragraph 540


 

Most of us have a general understanding of the 40 days of Lent, going back to our childhood.   We know it starts with Ash Wednesday, and ends at Easter (which is technically inaccurate), and Fridays are meatless and we're giving something up and maybe we hit the Stations of the Cross or say some extra prayers, yada yada yada.  

But do we really understand why we're doing all of this?   How does depriving myself prepare me for Easter?  How does it make me a better person?  How does it bring me closer to Christ?  Keep reading for answers to all of these questions.  We hope this Lent (and every Lent) is fruitful in ways you never imagined, and that the glory of His Resurrection shines forth brilliantly in your hearts on Easter Sunday.  

After Jesus was baptized by John, the Gospel tells us that Our Lord was "driven into the desert" by the Holy Spirit.  That sounds like a completely unnecessary side-trip to our ears, because, really, why can't He just start his ministry and skip the self-deprivation?  But nothing Christ did, which the Gospels tell us about, was without a teaching purpose for us.  And at the same time, Jesus is beginning to demonstrate His connection (Jesus being God Himself) to the Covenants He made with the people of Israel.  Israel had demonstrated time and again that it could not fulfill her part of the bargain due to the reality of Sin and the author of Sin, Lucifer.  So one important aspect of Christ's ministry, and indeed the Paschal sacrifice, itself, is his taking the role of Israel and fulfilling what they would not.  And that requires going back to Point A on the map -- the desert.  

But why does the desert figure so prominently throughout Scripture?  Aside from the fact it geographically dominates most of the region, the desert signifies the desolation that stands in opposition to the verdant and lush Garden of Eden.  It's a visible representation of Death and Disorder brought upon us by Original Sin.  And so, Jesus, emerges from the waters of the Jordan as the "New Adam", fresh with his marching orders from the Father to go and reverse what the "Old Adam" wrecked.  Naturally, therefore, He goes first to the Desert, and it's there that the Serpent will reappear to tempt the New Adam to sin.  Except, this time, he won't succeed