Episode 44 — The First Step into the Desert

Today, we step across a threshold. After weeks of preparation—of humility, repentance, mercy, and forgiveness—we now enter Great Lent. Not as spectators. Not as observers. But as participants. The Church does not send us into Lent alone. It sends us following Christ—into the wilderness. And so today, we begin where He began.

Scripture Reading

¹ Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

² And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

³ Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

Devotional Reading

The wilderness feels barren—but it is where identity is clarified.

Jesus does not prove He is the Son of God by performing a miracle. He proves it by trusting the Father.

And that is our invitation too.

This Lent, we enter the desert not to lose ourselves—but to remember who we are.

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus,
You walked into the wilderness before us.
You fasted. You endured. You trusted.

As we begin this Great Lent, lead us by Your Spirit.
Teach us to hunger for Your Word.
Strengthen us when we feel weak.
Clarify our hearts in the quiet of the desert.

May this fast not be external only—but inward and transformative.
And at the end of these forty days, may we emerge closer to You.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
Amen.