Theme: Learning to Listen in the Desert

In the Highlands of Scotland, there are mornings when the land feels almost empty. The hills stretch wide. The loch lies still. The air is sharp and clear. There is no noise, no distraction. Only silence, and whatever is stirring inside your own heart.

Silence can be uncomfortable. It brings forward what we have pushed aside. It reveals what is steady and what is fragile.

The Gospel brings us into such a silence. Jesus is led into the desert. No crowd surrounds Him. No miracle is performed. There is hunger, space, and testing. The desert clears away everything unnecessary. It reveals what voice we are listening to.

The tempter speaks with urgency. Prove yourself. Take control. Secure your future. But Jesus listens to the voice of the Father. He answers with Scripture. He stands firm because He knows who He is.

In his Lenten message this year, Pope Leo XIV reminds us that Lent begins with listening. Fasting creates room in the heart. When we fast from constant noise, small resentments, and endless activity, something within us becomes clearer. We begin to hear again.

Many in our community understand the experience of desert. It may be the quiet of winter. It may be the silence after bereavement. It may be the early hours when sleep does not come. Silence can either unsettle us or steady us. Everything depends on whether we are listening.

Jesus leaves the desert strengthened and focused. He carries with Him the certainty that He is the beloved Son.

Lent invites us into that same clarity. These forty days give us space to listen to God, to our own conscience, and to the needs of others.

If we learn to listen well, we will remember who we are. Beloved sons and daughters. From that truth, conversion begins.

Fr. Charles Ijeoma Egbon