Battle Tested—Lenten Ready

When, in Lent, we hear the Gospel of Our Lord’s being tested in the desert, it reminds us that these forty amazing days of Lent and, in fact, every day of our life is about a battle between good and evil. In other words, our journey through Lent and our journey through life is not for wimps.
 
Before Jesus began His public ministry, the Spirit led him into the desert, where He fasted and prayed for forty days. We can say that this time of communing with His Father in the desert manifests to us the prototype of Lent that the Church presents it to us. We might even see in the forty years when the Hebrews wandered in the desert seeking the Promised Land a prefiguring of our life as we wander in this world, truly a desert, as we seek our Promised Land, heaven.
 
So, what do we find in the Season of Lent and in our life, our time allotted to us in this world? We recognize that we are living in the midst of a battle between the creative power of God’s love and the destructive power of the ancient enemy’s hatred. The only way that we can win the battle is to do what Our Lord did during the forty days in the desert. He fasted and He prayed. He turned to His Heavenly Father and He lifted up His Heart to be joined with the Heart of the Father in prayer and in love. The power of eternal and unshakable love is manifested in this union of their Hearts. Jesus, who is Almighty God, took on our own human flesh, becoming like us in all things but sin, and underwent the rigorous fast of 40 days to teach us that self-denial leads to self-mastery and self-sacrificial love in obedience to God’s Will, and finally to the defeat of the wiles of the enemy. When we fast and pray, we open our heart in submission to God so that He may realize the victory of good over evil in our own life.
 
My dear friends, we are dropped down behind enemy lines at birth. We are born into a fallen world where the ancient serpent seeks to destroy lives, destroy families, corrupt communities, and set nation against nation. The enemy wants to lead as many souls as possible away from God. He wants to tempt us and cause us to sin, to say a resounding “NO!” to God. He does this by making us think that God does not exist or, at least, by convincing us that there is no such thing as sin. He whispers in our ears and minds that we are in control of our own lives and destiny. The evil foe does everything in his power to seduce us into sensual pleasure, into the quest for control, and into worshipping ourselves (and him!) in place of God.
 
However, even though we are behind enemy lines, we share in the victory of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has redeemed us by shedding His Blood on the altar of the Cross. While it is true that the old enemy still prowls around like a roaring lion seeking those whom he wishes to devour, he is enraged, because he knows he has been defeated by the Lord Jesus, who put him to flight in the desert.
 
By our fasting and prayer, by our uniting ourselves with the Sacrifice of Jesus at every Mass, by our receiving His Sacred Body and Precious Blood in Holy Communion, by our asking for the intercession of the Mother of God and of our brothers and sisters, the saints in heaven, and by our requesting the protection of the angels, we wage a powerful spiritual battle against the forces of darkness. We belong to the army of the Savior, whose power lies in love, mercy and peace. Yes, we are battle-tested and Lenten-ready as we strive to follow the Savior and the standard of His Holy Cross.
 
Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh