“Lost” | Reflection by Kyle Magri

“For forty wilderness days and nights he was tested by Satan. Wild animals were his companions, and angels took care of him.” – Mark 1:13

We often think of Lent as a time to find something. Finding more time to pray, finding out more about our faith, finding time in our schedule for the God who knows no time. For many, Lent is a time of “how can I fit God into my schedule a little more this month without messing up my daily routine?” 

Yet this is not the example that our Lord Jesus Christ gives to us regarding Lent. “For forty wilderness days and nights… Wild animals were his companions, and angels took care of him.” (Mark 1:13) When our Lord began His Lenten practice, He did not go home back to Nazareth and get an internship for 40 days, nor did he confine himself to the quietude of a monastery. He abandoned this world of systems and -isms! He abandoned structure and order, and all the pious gatekeeping. And allowed Himself… to get lost! To get lost in the wilderness of the wild God of creation! 

“Wild animals were his companions, and angels took care of him.” Fully reliant on Mother Earth and her gifts as well as the Heavenly grace of the Father. Jesus went out into the wilderness, with nothing but the clothes on His back, and got lost… in the woods… for 40 days! We do not know much about what happened in those 40 days other than the crucial moment of His temptation. But certainly the things that He experienced in those 40 days are reflected in His teachings. 

One of the great Desert Fathers once said: “The trees, and the rocks, the sea, and the sky can teach us more about God than any book can, if we would only listen.” These words were inspired by the same Jesus who said “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.” (Luke 12:27)

This Lent, let’s consider the lilies! Let’s get lost in the wilderness with Jesus as our guide. Go outside with nothing but the clothes on your back, with no agenda or purpose and allow nature to speak to you of the truths it has to tell about the One who made it and sustains it. Amen!