I will lead her into the desert
and speak to her heart.
She shall respond there as in the days of her youth,
when she came up from the land of Egypt.
and you shall know the LORD.

Go into the desert, on retreat, into the seminary or the monastery, into the Great Lent and go away to be alone.

When you are alone you become afraid. Some people babble on. Their own voice fills their head and they never know quiet. They are afraid of what God might tell them. They are afraid of the voice of justice and truth.

If you can get past your own voice and your fear, and you are still for long enough, God will come to break you down. His voice will tell you what you should be and where you should go.

On this Quinquagesima Sunday we are but 50 days from Easter. Our journey into the Lenten dessert will begin in three days.

Have you prepared yourself? Are you willing to shut off the outside world and its distractions and go into the desert with Christ? Are you willing to be still and listen for His voice?

In the desert you will come to know the Lord. The Lord as He is. The Lord Jesus Christ will test you in this Lenten desert. He will test you, break you down, and qualify you as His friend.

Remember that Paul had to be broken down. Paul had to be knocked off his high horse, made blind, and subject to the people he formerly persecuted.

Now he proclaims the truth. Not a truth founded in his background as a Pharisee and legalist, but a truth that surpasses all legalities; the truth written on his heart.

Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.
Not that of ourselves we are qualified
to take credit for anything as coming from us;
rather, our qualification comes from God,
who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant,
not of letter but of spirit;

That same truth, delivered to us by Jesus Christ, through the Holy Apostles and by their successors in the Holy Catholic Church, must be written on our hearts.

The truth is that Jesus came into the world to deliver us from the power of death. Death has no power over us. His sacrificial death on the cross once for all and instituted in perpetuity in the Holy Eucharist, offered up by Christ to the Father again and again upon this Holy Altar in an unbloody way, has delivered us. His glorious resurrection is our future.

We are delivered from adherence to the letter of the Law. The Pharisaical concept of adherence to the Law, for the sake of the Law, rather than for the sake of love, is what Jesus is talking about today.

Do we wish to appear pious like the Pharisees so that others give us adulation? Oh, look at what he sacrificed; look at what she gave to charity, look at how they are fasting.

What sort of Catholic Christians and Lenten observers are we to be? Will we adhere to the Law, fasting, giving alms, giving up something just to comply? Or will be take this desert time and go for the gusto. Will we walk in empty and walk out qualified?

Our Lenten sacrifice must be one of truth and love. Not a legalistic or ritualistic show, but a joining of our hearts in love to Christ on the road to Calvary.

Jesus tells us:

—…no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.—

Jesus is telling us that the ways of the Pharisees, adherence to the letter of the law without understanding and living in accordance with its Spirit, is death and destruction. His Word is the new wine. Pouring it into the ears of the legalists and minimalists will render it useless. Pouring it into your ears if you are bound to your old ways will bring about your destruction,

Remember that Jesus came not to set aside the law, but to strip away the manner in which the people lived it. Those people and indeed some of us live legalities and do not understand the purpose of the Law. People back then, and you and I today, need to see the power and spirit of the Law. We need to repent, preparing for the coming of the Kingdom. We need to live in truth, true to what Jesus taught. We need to let the wine of His words fill us with joy. Fill us so that we may be re-created.

What is genuine and good has always been there. As you live your Lenten journey remember what is at the core of what you do. Make this journey into the desert a journey of joy. Make this journey an odyssey of love. Practice the rules and regulations of Lent in love. Seek what is at the core of these spiritual exercises and The Lord:

will espouse you in fidelity,
and you shall know the LORD.