Deuteronomy 216:4-10 / Romans 10:8-13 / Luke 4:1-13
We may have felt that many things have happened rather quickly since the start of the year.
There was the Chinese New Year that came and went, and it was not that long ago.
And then the season of Lent has begun with Ash Wednesday.
Now that the season of Lent has begun, we may be thinking of what to do and how to do it.
So, we might be thinking about making more time for prayer, maybe waking up earlier in the morning to pray.
We may be thinking of going for some weekday Masses, besides the Sunday masses.
We may be thinking of going for the Stations of the Cross every Friday of Lent.
And then there is also the practice of fasting and abstinence on Fridays, or we may want to do more for season of Lent.
Whatever it may be, the season of Lent seems to be like a busy spiritual season with many spiritual practices to consider.
But before we think of what we want to do for the season of Lent, let us take a look at Jesus in today's Gospel.
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan, but He didn't immediately launch into His mission of salvation.
Rather, He was led by the Holy Spirit through the wilderness, being tempted there by the devil for 40 days.
It seems like Jesus didn't decide what to do after His baptism. It was the Spirit who decided for Him.
And so, the Spirit led Jesus to the wilderness, or, also known as the desert.
The desert is a harsh place, where hunger and thirst are felt to the extremes, and that is nothing that can be done about it.
Besides, there's also nothing else to do.
And as if that is not terrible enough, it was also there that the devil tempted Jesus.
So, it was a rough start for Jesus, firstly going to a very uncomfortable place, and then being unsettled by the devil.
The Church began the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday which was a few days ago.
On that day, the Church use an ordinary, or a rather useless substance, to mark our foreheads, and that is ashes.
Ashes are messy, and they can also cause irritation to our skin.
The ashes are marked on our foreheads to remind us of three realities, and that is our frailty, our mortality and our eternity.
With the ashes, we are reminded of our frailty, that we are weak human beings.
We feel pain, we fall ill, we worry about our problems and difficulties, and we get anxious about losing what we consider as precious.
The ashes also remind us of our mortality. There's nothing as certain as death.
One of the phrases that is used when the ashes are marked on our foreheads is this: Remember, you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.
Yes, returning to dust is the stark reality and the certainty, and that is nothing that we can do about it, nor can we avoid it.
But in our frailty and mortality, God promises an eternity of glory for those who hope and trust in Him.
Ash Wednesday reminds us that everything will pass.
Our hunger will pass, our wealth and our health will pass, our success and our failures will also pass.
But the season of Lent makes us pause, and pause for 40 days.
Yes, we pause to pray about our frailty and our mortality.
In our frailty and mortality, may we also come to see eternity.
And we also see that everything will pass away, but God will not pass away.
And when we put our hope and trust in God, He will also not let us pass away.
God will raise us up from the ashes of our frailty and mortality, and He will lead us into eternity.
We just need to pause, and with prayer, we will see how God is doing this for us.