{"id":3567,"date":"2016-02-12T11:07:37","date_gmt":"2016-02-12T16:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/?p=3567"},"modified":"2019-10-10T11:53:59","modified_gmt":"2019-10-10T16:53:59","slug":"confession-and-communion-in-the-wilderness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/spiritual-reflections\/confession-and-communion-in-the-wilderness","title":{"rendered":"Confession and communion in the wilderness"},"content":{"rendered":"
A reflection by Paige Souter on the First Sunday of Lent: Deuteronomy 26.1-11;\u00a0Psalm 91.1-2, 9-16;\u00a0Romans 10.8-13;\u00a0Luke 4.1-13<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cJesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil\u201d (Luke 4:1).<\/em><\/p>\n This First Sunday of Lent we hear the story of Jesus\u2019 temptation in the wilderness. A time of hunger, isolation, suffering, and testing. Three times the devil tempts Jesus to misuse the power he has been given as the Son of God. The temptations are to use his power to feed himself, to gain political power, and for show and spectacle.<\/p>\n For many of us, the wilderness experience is a difficult period of time in our lives. Often we feel isolated and disconnected from God and from those around us. But the wilderness is more than an experience of trials and temptations. It can also be a time of reconciliation and communion with God.<\/p>\n In The Name of God is Mercy<\/em>, Pope Francis is asked what makes a good confession, and he responds that a person \u201cought to feel like a sinner, so that he can be amazed by God. In order to be filled with God\u2019s gift of infinite mercy, we need to recognize our need, our emptiness, our wretchedness\u201d (pp. 43).<\/em> During our time in the wilderness, we experience and confess the woundedness and fragility of our lives. We learn to put aside our own thoughts and desires and learn to listen for God. We begin to hear the cries of those around us, of people living in poverty, refugees, victims of violence and war, and we begin to hear the cries of a wounded planet.<\/p>\n\n
During our time in the wilderness, we experience and confess the woundedness and fragility of our lives. We learn to put aside our own thoughts and desires and learn to listen for God.<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n