Bishop’s Message
Lent 2024
“He found them in a wilderness, a wasteland of howling desert. He shielded them, cared for
them, guarded them as the apple of his eye.” (Deuteronomy 32.10)
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Our familiarity with an actual desert may vary, but all of us, at one time or another, have experienced desert like experiences in our personal lives. Most often, these experiences can be unpleasant and discouraging. With them always comes the question – Why?
In Scripture, when God wants to speak to an individual or to a community, He calls them out into the desert. We see this when God rescued the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. There, He led them into the desert of Sinai where they travelled for forty years toward the freedom of the Promised Land.
During this time, God put them to the test, yet at the same time, used Moses to communicate and help the people to know God and the relationship He desired with them. But, like us, the Israelites were a stubborn bunch. Perhaps this is why it took forty years for the people to fully embrace God’s love for them, and leave Egypt and their enslavement behind.
As we know, Jesus Himself was also led into the desert where He was tempted and tested by the Devil. Even though Jesus was God, His time in the desert showed us “what it means to live out one’s humanity in the midst of the physicality of temptation, as well as how to lean on the divine.” (Deboer, The Reason Jesus Went into the Desert – A Lenten Commentary)
So, this Lent, I urge you to take the opportunity to listen to God and what He wants to say to you when he leads you into the desert. Use this time also to rediscover God and His love for you (St. Teresa of Calcutta) where, in the desert, He speaks to your heart. (Habakkuk 2.1)
God bless,
+Gregory J Bittman
Bishop of Nelson