Life’s Desert Journey

Life is a pilgrimage of love and mercy, a ‘desert journey’ in this time of Lent, challenging us to embrace and express God’s compassion in a world that continues the Exodus from the shackles of the deceitful demon to freedom in the arms of the Crucified. St. Paul reminds us, “We have our citizenship in heaven; it is there that we eagerly await the coming of our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will give a new form to this lowly body of ours and remake it according to the pattern of his glorified body, by his power to subject everything to Himself” (Phil. 3:20).

In our journey, our Heavenly Father tells us to ‘listen to His Son, His Chosen one’ (Luke 9:35). If we truly listen to Jesus, and patiently ponder on His words, we will receive the light to keep on and radiate His light through our joyful witnessing in faith and good works.

Our response will bring joy and purity of heart, for “happy are they who treasure His word and seek Him with all their heart…In my heart I have kept your word, that I may not sin against my Lord” (Ps.119: 2,11).

God keeps calling us to open our hearts to His grace, that the power of His Spirit may transform and change our hearts, so that we be “perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48), and let this holiness shine with the power of His own selfless, self-sacrificing love, beyond our self-centeredness. Let us invoke our Mother Mediatrix of All Grace, Mary, to obtain the necessary graces to empower us to follow the Light of her Son that she may form our hearts to be tender and compassionate in this our desert journey.