LENT AS A DESERT MOMENT
Homily for the First Sunday in Lent, Year A Fr. Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11 A man who lost his job once told me that the hardest part was not the loss of income, but the loss of certainty. He felt exposed, vulnerable, and alone. Yet later, he said it was in that “desert” season that he rediscovered prayer, clarity, and his dependence on God. What he experienced reveals a spiritual truth: deserts are not places of abandonment, but places of encounter and transformation. The Gospel of this First Sunday of Lent begins with a surprising statement: “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.” The desert is not an accident; it is intentional. The Spirit leads Him there. In the Bible, the desert has a deep theological sense. It is the place where false securities are removed and the truth of one’s relationship with God is revealed. Israel passed through the desert for forty years, not simply as a journey of geography...
