Label Bottles, Not People
Where do you find your identity?
If someone asks you who you are, how do you respond? Perhaps you may explain a bit about where you’re from, your family, or what you do for work. There are a lot of routes that you could take to give someone a basic idea of who you are. But do any of these things truly, fully capture you? What’s in an identity?
Our Gospel reading this Sunday kicks off the First Week of Lent with Jesus being tempted by the devil in the desert. The devil starts off: “If you’re the Son of God, make these stones into bread. Anyone with your power should be able to do that.” When that doesn’t work, he moves on: “If you’re really who you say you are, throw yourself off this height! Obviously, the angels will catch you since you’re so important.” Finally, the devil tries again: “I can give you all these amazing things, anything you want! All you have to do is submit yourself to me.” As we recall, Jesus passes these tests with flying colors. But more importantly, He leads the charge for us, showing us how to resist temptations.
The temptations that Jesus faces are not different from our own. In fact, they’re fundamentally the same. The devil wants to attack your identity, and he does it by distorting how you understand it. You can summarize those temptations with this: “You are what you do – You are what people say you are – You are what you have.” Sounds like workaholism, people-pleasing, and materialism to me. Is your identity or your worth actually in any of these things?
Jesus spent 40 days in the desert, praying and fasting. Here’s the thing: the human body can go 40 days without food, but not without water. The only water near Jesus in the wilderness would have been the River Jordan, where He was baptized. Remember what happened at His baptism? The Father called out: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” That is a real identity. Jesus would have had to return to this place often during His time in the desert.
Lent is a time for us to recall our Baptismal identity, to do penance for those times that we haven’t lived it well, and to grow closer to God in preparation for Easter. As you journey through the desert with Christ in these coming weeks, remember that you’re more than your work, your reputation, or your possessions. I invite you to return to your own Baptism and remember that the Father looks upon you with love and says: “This is my beloved child in whom I find my joy.”
-Br. Andrew
