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In the daily Readings from the Holy Office which I read and pray every morning, we have come, in this second week of Lent, to the Book of Exodus. By now, the plagues have convinced Pharaoh to release the Hebrews into the desert, not knowing that they will one day reach The Promised Land. Moses and the Chosen People have just begun their foray into the desert, unaware that this trek will take forty years.
Forty years would span two generations, meaning that the people who entered the desert will not be the people who come out the other side; it will be their grandchildren. This younger generation will not have experienced slavery in Egypt, but will have been formed by their wanderings in the desert, trusting God to show them the way. As we know the story, God provided for their needs, though the people were dissatisfied and complained constantly. However, it was during this exodus that God gave them the Ten Commandments, instructing them in how to live the Covenant first entrusted to Abraham of ancient memory. Freed from slavery, the Commandments would form their identity as freemen. Now, the faith would be their own, formed by God in the desert, fighting their way into the Promised Land.
While on pilgrimage to the Holy Land five years ago, our Director had us stop at a particular passage on the road to Jericho where we had an extensive overlook. One could see for miles across low mountain ranges, desert expanses and narrow valleys with dry river beds. As I took it all in, all I could think of was the Hebrew people finally arriving here in Judea, looking at nothing but rocks and sand, wondering to themselves, “So this is the Promised Land?”
I see the ancient exodus as a euphemism for our passage through this season of Lent. While we already know the length of the journey (forty days) as well as the ending point (Easter), the desert we experience consists of the disciplines outlined for us on Ash Wednesday: praying, fasting and almsgiving. Our hope is that, like the ancient Hebrews, we who enter the desert might not be the same persons who come out the other end: transformed by our observance into a deepened identity as the People of God, formed by the Commandments and renewed in the sacraments.
It will take patience, so we must avoid grumbling or complaining. What is needed is trust in the Providence of God, who will provide what we need for the journey and lead us, not by a cloud or a pillar of fire, but by the desire of our hearts to a more profound identity based in Lenten renewal. The Promised Land will provide the “new and improved” version of ourselves: people who have grown in holiness, an Easter people.