You won’t like this story.
A young boy’s sister was sick and needed a blood transfusion. Given the rare nature of her blood type, few could help. Fortunately, her brother shared the blood type. Also, the sister was suffering from a sickness that the brother had survived a few years back, so he had the antibodies necessary to help. The doctor explained all this to the young boy, pointing out that without the transfusion, his sister would likely die. The doctor asked, “Would you be brave and give your blood to your sister?” The boy hesitated, then, with a trembling lip, smiled and said, “For my sister, yes.” They were placed in a room together, and a needle was inserted in the boy’s arm, and a long tube joined the needle in his arm with the needle in his sister’s. The boy watched as his blood flowed from his body into his sister’s. After a time, the doctor asked the boy, “How are you feeling?” “Fine,” the boy said but added, “How much longer before I die?”
When was the last time you trusted so completely and committed so fully?
Jesus was baptized, then “a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts, and the angels waited on him.”
Jesus received the assurance of His Father’s love and then went into the wilderness. It was not easy. The other Gospels break down the major temptations that He experienced. Temptations that all others would have broken under or, if nothing else, caused them to flee the desert, but Jesus remained. He did not return until the ordeal, and the trial was complete.
Alessandro Pronzato, priest and theologian, wrote, “The desert is the threshold to the meeting ground of God and man. It is the scene of the exodus. You do not settle there, you pass through. One then ventures on to these tracks because one is driven by the Spirit towards the Promised Land. But it is only promised to those who are able to chew sand for forty years without doubting their invitation to the feast in the end.” (The Desert: An Anthology for Lent, p.26)
The Spirit drove Jesus into the desert. While there, He encountered the devil, but through the Father’s love, Jesus was given the strength to overcome the trials. Yet, when He died on the Cross, He still had sand in his mouth because the mission He was obedient to wasn’t just for forty days. It was for a lifetime. Afterward, He rose and ascended into Heaven, returning to the Promised Land of His Father’s House. In His life, Jesus trusted completely in His Father’s love and fully committed to what He was called to.
In The Inner Voice of Love, Henri Nouwen speaks about the old country and the new country. The old country is where we spend most of our lives, and while there, we search for those things that will bring us joy and peace. Unfortunately, this old country was never intended to provide those things. Instead, this old country keeps us on the hunt, searching but never finding.
Thankfully, there comes a time in our lives when we realize this. We say, “This is not the truth. This is a lie, just baiting me along,” so we go in search of the truth. Through God’s grace, we learn that the Truth we seek is not in this old country but in a new one. We are blessed because we heard the voice that said, “Follow me.” We follow and cross the border into the new country. Like Lot’s wife, the devil temps us, and we look over our shoulders to see what we’ve left behind. Although we are not turned into pillars of salt, we damage our faithfulness and resolve. What do we do? When we think no one is watching, we cross back over the border into the old country, just for a taste, a nibble. We take on the mindset of an addict who thinks, “I’ll just have a little hit, and then I’ll be good to go, never looking back again.” Intellectually, we know this is a lie, but we listen. What are we to do?
Nouwen writes, “It seems that you keep crossing and recrossing the border. For a while you experience a real joy in the new country. But then you feel afraid and start longing again for all you left behind, so you go back to the old country. To your dismay, you discover that the old country has lost its charm. Risk a few more steps into the new country, trusting that each time you enter it, you will feel more comfortable and be able to stay longer.” (The Inner Voice of Love, p. 21-22)
God the Father says to you, “You are my Son/ my daughter, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” Just as Jesus did, you have the assurance of My love for you. Trust in that love. It is the Truth. Risk another few steps into the new country, trusting completely in the Father’s love and fully committing to the life of the new country. The old country has promised you joy and peace but never provided. In the new country, you’ll still have to chew sand until the day you die, but once there, the blessings of God—His peace, His joy—are like a cup that is always overflowing.
Let us pray: (this is a prayer originating in the third/fourth century—the Sub Tuum Praesidium/“Under Thy Protection”)
We fly to Thy protection, O Holy Mother of God;
Despise not our petitions in our necessities,
but deliver us always from all dangers,
O Glorious and Blessed Virgin. Amen
Candle in a Cave 