Since the beginning of Christianity Lent has been a spiritual journey, a walking with Jesus in the desert. Christ was led into the desert by the Holy Spirit to establish a path for all people to walk from sin to God the Father. As Christians we are called like Jesus to begin our journey motivated by the Holy Spirit to take stock of our human weakness, recognizing where we are in relation to where we wish to go. Then we must walk away from these attachments, following in the footsteps of our Lord, confronting our appetites through mortification which is a dying to self that we might live with God.

Just as Jesus denied himself food during these 40 days and suffered hunger, we deny ourselves simple pleasures through our Lenten observances and find ourselves hungering for them. But as Jesus proved himself the master over human weakness and defeated the wiles of the devil, so too we are called to master our appetites through denial even when the devils seek to dissuade us from continuing along the path.

However, it is essential that we do not lose sight of our ultimate goal. The practices of Lent are not the end in themselves but only the means to that end toward which Jesus leads us. Thus, we must always keep before our eyes the Exodus of our Lord, his passion, death and finally his glorious resurrection. This is the purpose of our journey. That having suffered and died to the demands of our human nature, we might rise with Christ to the glorious vision of our heavenly Father.

May you find at the end of your journey the joy and happiness of Easter.

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Finding Faith is written by area pastors. This week’s column comes from Rev. Fr. Joseph Orr of Holy Spirit Catholic Parish, Lock Haven.