Pope: Lent " journey in the desert " to overcome temptations of power, towards God
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Lent, which begins today, is "a time of change, of conversion", a time that pushes us "to assume our responsibilities, a time for mature decisions", to "set ourselves in motion, to meet the Lord at the end times. " The 40 days that separate us from Easter were the theme of reflection that Benedict XVI offered to eight thousand people attended the general audience at the Vatican.
The Pope's words also referred to the "condition
of the pilgrim Church in the "desert" of the world and history ", for which, as for Jesus, there is the "temptation of the
devil", who offered to Christ "another path, far from God's plan, because it passes through power,
success, dominion". But even
if "the sky above us is obscured by the clouds of egoism, misunderstanding
and deception", the period in the desert "can
become a period of grace, because God can bring forth the living water that
refreshes and restores even from the hardest rock".
Benedict XVI recalled that
"quadragesima" , the forty days of Lent was the time when
those who had heard the Christian message "began, step by step, the
process of conversion", the "process of conversion to faith to
be accomplished gradually, through inner change ", which would lead
catechumens towards baptism.
Over time, this journey of conversion was proposed to all faithful, "and those who had turned away from God, and those who lived in full communion with the Church." Everyone knew that "the time before Easter is a time of change, of conversion." And "the participation of the whole community in the different steps of the Lenten path emphasizes an important dimension of Christian spirituality: redemption is not available to only a few, but to all, through the death and resurrection of Christ."
The duration of Lent, 40 days, refers to a symbolic number in both the Old and New Testament: "a figure that expresses a period of waiting, purification, return to the Lord." "This number does not represent an exact chronological time, divided by the sum of the days. Rather it indicates a patient perseverance, a long trial, a sufficient period to see the works of God, a time within which we must make up our minds and to decide to accept our own responsibilities without additional references."
The Pope indicated, among other things, that "the number first appears in the story of Noah, the just man", who spends 40 days in the ark after the flood and 40, before sighting land. Similarly, the 40 days "Moses spent on Mount Siani in the presence of the Lord to receive the law" and the years of the journey of the people of Israel to the Promised Land. And again the 40 years of peace that Israel knew under the Judges and those of the reigns of Saul and David.
In the New Testament, " Jesus, before beginning of his public life, retires to the desert for forty days without food or drink he nourishes himself on the Word of God, which he uses as a weapon to conquer the devil " and " Forty are the days during which the risen Jesus instructs his disciples, before ascending to heaven and sending the Holy Spirit ".
"A spiritual context is described by this recurring number forty, one that remains current and valid, and the Church, precisely through the days of Lent, intends to maintain its enduring value and make us aware of its efficacy. The Christian liturgy of Lent is intended to facilitate a journey of spiritual renewal in the light of this long biblical experience and especially to learn how to imitate Jesus, who in the forty days spent in the desert taught how to overcome temptation with the Word of God"
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