Sunday Meditation: Into the Desert with the Wild Beasts

We have entered Lent, and today is the First Sunday of Lent.  In all three year cycles, the First Sunday of Lent has Jesus enter the desert to be tempted by Satan.  Matthew’s and Luke’s versions of Jesus’s forty days of temptation similar in that they detail Satan’s forms of temptations.  In Mark’s version we have a general summary of temptations, but he offers two amazing details: Jesus lives among the wild beasts and that angels minister to Him. 

 

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert,

and he remained in the desert for forty days,

tempted by Satan.

He was among wild beasts,

and the angels ministered to him.

 

After John had been arrested,

Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:

"This is the time of fulfillment.

The kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent, and believe in the gospel."

~Mk 1:12-15

It’s noteworthy to observe that Matthew’s version does include the detail of the angels ministering to Jesus but no wild beasts, and Luke has neither detail.  This week Fr. Geoffrey Plant has a fine homily that explains Lent, the forty days in the desert, Satan. the temptations in the desert and the association with the temptation of Adam and Eve, and the wild beasts which allude to the beasts in Isaiah.

 

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,

and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat;

The calf and the young lion shall browse together,

with a little child to guide them.

The cow and the bear shall graze,

together their young shall lie down;

the lion shall eat hay like the ox.

The baby shall play by the viper’s den,

and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.

They shall not harm or destroy on all my holy mountain;

for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,

as water covers the sea.  (Isa 11:6-9)

 

Meditation: "He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.”

Seek out Bishop Barron’s homily on this week’s reading.  He’s got a different and perhaps more meditative understanding of the wild beasts and the angels.

Sunday Meditation: John the Baptist Out of the Desert

Second Sunday of Advent, Year A, has one of the great passages in the New Testament.  A description of John the Baptist.  This is as great a description of a man as you will ever come across in literature.

 

John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea

and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"

It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:

A voice of one crying out in the desert,

Prepare the way of the Lord,

make straight his paths.

John wore clothing made of camel's hair

and had a leather belt around his waist.

His food was locusts and wild honey.

At that time Jerusalem, all Judea,

and the whole region around the Jordan

were going out to him

and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River

as they acknowledged their sins.

 

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees

coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers!

Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.

And do not presume to say to yourselves,

'We have Abraham as our father.'

For I tell you,

God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees.

Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit

will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

I am baptizing you with water, for repentance,

but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I.

I am not worthy to carry his sandals.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

His winnowing fan is in his hand.

He will clear his threshing floor

and gather his wheat into his barn,

but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

~Mt 3:1-12

There is so much in that to meditate on; I don’t know what to choose.  I just love the Baptist’s exclamation to Pharisees and Sadducees: "You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?  Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.  And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'

I’ll let Bishop Barron focus on the rest of the passage.

 

So I looked up the John the Baptist image from the Chartres Cathedral.  Here it is.

 

What a remarkable sculpture.  I conceptualize John as having more of a mountain man physique.  This is more mystic, I think.  I also couldn’t figure out the animal he had in his arms.  At first I thought it was a lizard, then a dog, but now I realize it’s a lamb, the Lamb of God!

Sunday Meditation: Temptations In The Desert

I have to admit, there is a constant hunger during Lent. And having just given in to that temptation, we read,

 

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan

and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days,

to be tempted by the devil.

He ate nothing during those days,

and when they were over he was hungry.

The devil said to him,

“If you are the Son of God,

command this stone to become bread.”

Jesus answered him,

“It is written, One does not live on bread alone.”

Then he took him up and showed him

all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant.

The devil said to him,

“I shall give to you all this power and glory;

for it has been handed over to me,

and I may give it to whomever I wish.

All this will be yours, if you worship me.”

Jesus said to him in reply,

“It is written

            You shall worship the Lord, your God,

                        and him alone shall you serve.”

Then he led him to Jerusalem,

made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him,

“If you are the Son of God,

throw yourself down from here, for it is written:

            He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,

 and:

            With their hands they will support you,

            lest you dash your foot against a stone.”

Jesus said to him in reply,

“It also says,

            You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”

When the devil had finished every temptation,

he departed from him for a time.

-Lk 4:1-13

We think there are only three temptations put to Jesus, but really the Gospel says “When the devil had finished every temptation…”  After all, Jesus was in the desert for forty days.  What other temptations was put to Him?

Photo Essay: Donkeys in the Desert

A few months ago, on a business trip to Arizona, while driving on a back road in the desert I came upon some wild donkeys.  Here are two pictures I was able to snap from the car before they got frightened and galloped off.

Handsome creatures who amazingly can live in that environment.