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Entering the Desert with Christ: What Lent Asks of Us
Steve O. Alabi
As we begin the sacred forty days of Lent on Ash Wednesday, Holy Mother Church invites us into the desert with Christ Himself through the trials of the wilderness, stripping away the noise of the world to hear the whisper of the Father. Just as Jesus withdrew for forty days of prayer and fasting (cf. Matthew 4:1–11), we too are called to step away from distraction, sin, and self-reliance, and to turn our hearts back toward God. The challenge is to face our reflection not with despair, but with humility and a firm resolve to allow God’s grace to do what we cannot do alone.
Lent is not merely a season on the Church calendar; it is a summons to conversion. “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15) is not only proclaimed over us as ashes mark our foreheads, it is meant to be lived. This penitential season asks us to examine our lives honestly, to confront uncomfortable questions with humility, and to respond with sincere prayer and decisive action. If we are not careful, Lent can pass us by quietly. The Church urges us not to let that happen.
Many of us sense a deep restlessness within-a dissatisfaction that prayer alone seems to name but not yet resolve. We struggle, and often we do not fully understand why. For many families, these struggles are magnified by persistent economic uncertainty. Households strain to survive, even as parents work longer hours and harder jobs. Some among us remain unemployed, searching month after month, sometimes year after year, for dignified work that never seems to come. Others find themselves unprepared for hardship after years of sudden financial change.
The Church does not dismiss these realities. On the contrary, she stands with the suffering. But Lent invites us to look deeper-to recognize that material insecurity often exposes a spiritual hunger. As Our Lord reminds us, “Do not worry about your life… Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all”
(Matthew 6:25–32). Lent calls us to rediscover trust in God, not as an abstract idea, but as a lived dependence rooted in faith.
Yet our concern must go beyond finances. We must also look with clear eyes and loving hearts at the spiritual and moral state of our families, especially our children. It is difficult to imagine a time when young people and adults have faced greater moral confusion. The culture increasingly normalizes behaviour that wounds the human soul. Peer pressure toward destructive choices is relentless. Even more troubling, laws and social structures now attempt to redefine sin as virtue and compel acceptance of what contradicts God’s law written on the human heart (cf. Romans 2:15).
In past generations, people generally knew right from wrong, even if they sometimes chose wrongly. Today, the greater danger is that right and wrong themselves are blurred or denied. As Isaiah warned, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil”
(Isaiah 5:20). This moral disorientation is not only external; it seeps quietly into our homes, our entertainment, and even our consciences.
Still, there is hope. Lent exists precisely because God knows we are prone to wander. We may not always articulate what is wrong, but we sense it. That unease is grace at work. It is the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit calling us back.
The Church offers us, once again, the ancient remedies: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving
(cf. Matthew 6:1–18). Through prayer, we restore our relationship with God. Through fasting, we discipline our desires and make room for grace. Through almsgiving, we loosen our grip on possessions and rediscover love of neighbour. These are not empty rituals; they are acts of spiritual warfare and healing.
Above all, Lent calls us to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, where mercy is not merely promised but personally received. “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10) becomes our plea and our hope.
This Lent, let us not drift. Let us walk deliberately with Christ toward the Cross, trusting that the path of repentance leads to resurrection. God has not abandoned us. He is calling us patiently, persistently back to Himself. This requires more than a temporary change in diet; it requires a permanent change of heart (Metanoia).
Let us use these forty days to audit our lives. Let us prune the branches that do not bear fruit so that we may bloom in the light of the Resurrection.
And if we respond, this Lent will not pass us by unfulfilled.
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