Instead of being discouraged by our failures and sins, may we rejoice in the mercy and forgiveness of God.

There is the story of the famous scientist Einstein who was on a train in Europe.  The conductor asked him for his ticket.  He checked his pockets and then his wallet and he wasn’t able to come with it.  Then the conductor, seeing Einstein’s frustration in not being able to find his ticket, said:  “Don’t worry Mr.  Einstein, we trust you.”  Sometime later, the conductor returned to the train car and saw Einstein now on his knees looking for the ticket under his seat.  The conductor again told Einstein not to worry about it.

Einstein responded:  “Thank you, but I need the ticket to remind me where I’m supposed to be going.”

In a similar way, we need the Lenten season to focus us on the meaning and direction of our lives as well.  Lent is a time when we, like Jesus, are led by the Spirit into the desert  -- into the depths of ourselves, into our inner wilderness, so to speak,  away from the world of achievements.

God led the people of Israel into the desert, to forge them into a new people.  The Spirit led Jesus into the desert to clarify the meaning of his Messiahship.  The Spirit leads us into the desert of Lent to reflect on how we have not always resisted temptation and have failed to love.  In the desert we seek mercy and forgiveness.  Lent is God’s gift to us to become more aware that we are God’s redeemed and forgiven people.

In this jubilee year of mercy, Pope Francis calls us to experience the merciful love of Jesus in this Lenten Season.  Rather than being discouraged by our failures and our sins, may we rejoice in the mercy and forgiveness of God.

Our mantra for the Lenten season are the words spoken to us as ashes were placed on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday:  “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”

In the Lenten season, we seek to enter the same space as Jesus.  We are led by the Holy Spirit into the desert to experience fasting and self-denial and to be tempted and to be tested by the devil.  As disciples of the Lord Jesus, we are tested; we are tried during the Lenten season to gauge our commitment of turning away from sin and being faithful to the Gospel.  How do we deal with the Lenten call to embrace spiritual disciplines?  What fasting are we willing to embrace in the Lenten season?  What spiritual discipline of prayer can we make a commitment to?  What almsgiving, what are willing to tithe in the service of others?

We too are untested in the journey of discipleship if we do not focus ourselves on the call of God and the cost of discipleship in our lives.  On this the first Sunday of Lent, the challenge I give you is to honestly ask you to make a decision, to make some good choices as to embracing the spiritual disciplines of Lent. 

Today we also celebrate Valentine’s Day and the beginning of spring break.  These two beautiful events do not call into a desert wilderness experience of fasting and self-denial.  Rather, they are occasions for celebrations.

Among the many desires and attractions of our lives, the season of Lent calls to simplify, to focus, to embrace discipline, to express with Jesus in His suffering and the meaning of the cross in our lives.  In doing we celebrate the richest meaning of Valentine’s Day  -- a celebration of love.  We are grateful for the people who love us and whom we love.  And we give thanks to the Lord our God for the love that fills our spirit.  May we be mindful of the words of St John of the Cross:  “In the evening of life,  we will be judged on love alone.”

My hope for myself and for you is that you will encounter the Lord in prayer this Lenten season.  May this encounter fill you with joy and inner peace.  Make a decision, for example, to pray the Stations of the Cross on the Wednesday Evenings of Lent with other parishioners, experience the merciful love of Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and celebrate the Eucharist more frequently during Lent.

May our Lenten prayer further motivate ourselves to share the merciful love of Jesus with others.  Participate in one of the corporal works of mercy:  Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless.  Make a difference in the lives of people in need.

For example, the rationale behind your generosity to operation rice bowl is that our Lenten sacrifices become the source of hope and change for some of our poorest brothers and sisters around the world.  May our Lenten spiritual disciples lead us to share what we have with those who are hungry and in need of our generosity.

Yes, we are called to make a difference as the disciples of Jesus.  What commitment will I make that will enhance the world, aid the poor, and provide resources for building up the kingdom of justice, love, and peace?

The story of Jesus’ temptations reveals to us the deepest thing about him:  he had total trust in his heavenly Father.  Jesus turned to the Word of God in the face of temptation and expressed his trust, his obedience to God’s plan for him. 

What about ourselves?  What tempts us?  What do the temptations of our lives reveal about us?  What are the areas of our lives in which Jesus is not yet Lord?  Hopefully our temptations, our sinfulness reveal our need for God’s forgiveness and mercy, and, indeed, we are the gracious recipients of the merciful love of Jesus.

In speaking about the temptations of Jesus and the temptations of our everyday life, in all the ways we are tested and tried, our ultimate goal is not spiritual discipline; rather the purpose of our Lenten journey is to encounter God.  The spirituality we seek is to know

Jesus as the Lord and Savior of our lives and to commit ourselves to witnessing to the love of Jesus in the world.