“The Spirit Drives Jesus into Our Hearts” – 1st Sunday Lent (B) – 2.18.24

St. Mark the Evangelist Parish (Cranberry/Butler, PA)

Mass Readings- https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021824.cfm

Immediately after Jesus is baptized and begins His public ministry, He doesn’t go straight into ministry mode, but it says that the Spirit “drove” Jesus into the desert. It is in the desert that He did battle with satan and overcame satan’s temptations.

This notion of the Holy Spirit “driving” Jesus into the desert is important. It indicates a sense of urgency and importance for Jesus to go to a certain place right away. It was important that Jesus was driven into the desert by the Holy Spirit because Jesus was to redeem the desert which became the place where Israel continually rejected God and turned to idols and wandered in the desert for 40 years as we here with the story of Moses.

The Holy Spirit, which is the spirit of Christ, drove Jesus not only into the desert, but the Lord was constantly guided by the Holy Spirit throughout His ministry. The Spirit drove Jesus to encounter the various sick people that He healed. He was led to call the first Apostles. The Spirit drove Him into the towns to preach the Gospel and repentance. 

The Spirit drove Jesus to ride on a donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The Spirit drove Jesus to the Cross. The Spirit drove Jesus into depths of hell to free those who were bound and waiting for the gates of heaven to be opened at the Resurrection. The Spirit drove Jesus to rise again. The Spirit drove Jesus into heaven, so that Jesus can send His Holy Spirit to each one of us.

The Sprit also drives Jesus into the depth of human experience. He experienced suffering, temptation, hunger, and thirst. He experienced the feeling of abandonment on the Cross. He experienced agony in the Garden. He experienced rejection. Lack of love. He experienced pain. He experienced joy and peace as well. He experienced family life and friendships.

The Spirit also drives Jesus into the depths of our hearts.

Our hearts are a place that Jesus wants to bring redemption and healing. This Lent, Jesus wants to begin to go into those areas of our hearts that need healing. He wants to enter into our sorrow, pain, suffering, sin, and transform in us into something new.

He wants to take us into the muck of our heart where there is great brokenness and pain. Those areas where we are experiencing the Cross. He wants to take us to the Cross, so that we can experience His Resurrection.

It is really important though that we only go where the Spirit leads us. Jesus never went where the Spirit didn’t lead Him. Yes, Jesus will take us into the depths of our hearts, but we can only go where He takes us, otherwise, we will cause damage to our hearts. We may not experience complete healing within our hearts this Lent, but we can allow Him to begin the healing process in whatever way we need.

Also, when we go into these areas of our hearts, it is important that we remember God’s promises. God has made a promise to each of us. He has made a covenant of love with us. This covenant we hear about in the first reading with the story of Noah. With the assurance of God’s promise, the assurance of God’s faithfulness, and the assurance of His unconditional love, we can do anything. And we can go into those dark and scary places of our hearts that we have been afraid to go to for all these years. He looks at us and says, “Be not afraid. I am with you.” Then, He takes us by the hand and gently leads us to those dark and scary areas of our hearts that need healed.

Then, God-willing, as we emerge, we will be healed, and our hearts will be Resurrected and transformed.

The best way to begin this process to allow Jesus to enter those areas of our hearts that need to be healed is through finding time for silence.

Many of us are afraid of silence because it is uncomfortable, and silence has a way of bringing to the surface what is within our heart, and we are afraid of what’s there. We are afraid of confronting what is within our heart. We are afraid of what will be exposed within our hearts.

So we need to ask ourselves, ‘How can I foster more silence this Lent?’

My encouragement is that you carve out at least 10-15 minutes a day and just sit in silence with the Lord. We all have the time, so don’t let time be an excuse.

You can also foster more silence throughout the day. This involves not giving into the reflex to grab your phone and mindlessly go on social media or the internet, but to simply sit there even if it’s just for one minute.

If you have a young family, it can be difficult to foster silence throughout the day. So ask God to help you find time for silence. If it feels impossible, pray that He may reveal to you those areas of your heart that you need healed even amidst the craziness of life.

As the Spirit drove Jesus into the desert, the Spirit is driving Jesus into the depths of our hearts. He comes so lovingly and gently. This Lent, may we allow Him into those areas of our hearts that need healed, so we can begin the healing process. May this Lent be a time of great healing as the Lord goes to the Cross with us in our hearts and leads us to the Resurrection.