The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts, and the angels waited on him.

— Mark 1:12-13

Today’s Evening Prayer reading from the Gospel of Mark presents a brief description of John the Baptist, the Baptism of Jesus by John and Jesus being sent into the wilderness for forty days. This is the part of Jesus’ story that the church remembers each year during the forty days of Lent.

We know from the other Gospels that John the Baptist lived in the desert and survived on a meager diet of locusts and wild honey. Mark says that John “appeared in the wilderness.” We can surmise that both John and Jesus willingly submitted to this life of hardship in an extremely hostile environment to strengthen their relationship with God.

The forty days of Lent are a time of fasting and repentance when we practice our modern versions of this desert hardship by shedding tangible things or ideas that we hold dear. But why must we willingly submit to hardship to grow closer to God? In religious communities, we take vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. The vow of Poverty is often misconstrued by the public to mean deprivation and misery. Thankfully, that is not the case. We Sisters live out the vow of Poverty by removing anything that might distract us from God. We do not have our own bank accounts, we wear a habit every day and we regard everything in the Convent as “ours” and not “mine.” We voluntarily give up marriage and children to spend more of our time with God, and for us, this act of sacrifice brings tremendous joy.

I once saw an addiction counselor on television who described sobriety as being “harder, but better.” The Way of the Cross is harder, but it is far, far better than any other way.

Reflect: What are the things that distract you from God? What spiritual practices and holy habits bring you closer?

Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

— Mark 1:25-28

In today’s passage from the Gospel of Mark, Jesus begins his earthly ministry by calling Simon, Andrew, James and John to follow him. They leave their families and their livelihood behind and go with Jesus to Capernaum, where he teaches in the synagogue and drives out an unclean spirit from a man.

I always wonder what it was that Simon, Andrew, James and John saw in Jesus that made them give up everything to follow him. In religious life, we also give up all we possess to devote our lives to Jesus, but our choice is made because we already know Jesus. We know of his divinity and miracles, and we know his teachings. We feel secure in following the one whom we know to be the Messiah. Those first apostles knew none of these things, and yet they chose to follow this gentle teacher whose very presence was powerful enough to draw them into his ministry.

The four fishermen may have thought that following Jesus would be a temporary thing, or they may have had a few doubts as they set out for Capernaum, but their doubts were probably dispelled as they heard the brilliance of his teaching in the synagogue. Their faith must surely have taken deep, permanent root when they witnessed Jesus casting out the unclean spirit. Maybe they were not at all sure until they heard the spirit proclaim, “I know who you are, the Holy One of God!”

Reflect: What was it that made you realize Jesus is the Holy One of God? Was it something you were taught, or was it an experience?

That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed by demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

— Mark 1:32-34

Jesus’ ministry gains momentum as word of his miracles begins to spread. He visits the home of Simon and Andrew and heals Simon’s mother-in-law. Then he heals many townspeople and casts out demons. He then sets out early the next morning and goes to a solitary place to pray.

Once again, we can see Jesus’ time of prayer as a lesson to us. After a busy time of healing and teaching, he takes a break to pray. Any of us who serve the church, from volunteer to bishop, are aware that a pattern of busyness and rest is crucial to preserving our energy and avoiding burnout. In convents and monasteries, we balance our work time and our prayer time throughout the day, every day. If we are in the middle of a work project and the bell rings for chapel, we drop everything to go and pray. In secular work, you might put in your allotted hours and engage in prayer time outside your work hours. Monastics are taught that prayer is our work. Praying, in religious life, is our number one priority. This communal prayer time is sometimes referred to as the Daily Office, or daily work.

I am very much aware that if my work in the Convent were not punctuated by prayer at regular intervals, I would not have the strength to do my ministry. Prayer is a deep well from which I constantly draw nourishment and wisdom.

Reflect: Do you pause for prayer during your workday? How can you create a holy habit of “touching base” with God on a daily basis?

At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he said to the paralytic — “I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.”

— Mark 2:8-11

The story of the paralyzed man who is lowered through the roof by his four friends, then forgiven and healed by Jesus, is one of my favorite things to visualize in my prayer time. At this point in Mark, Jesus’ ministry has begun to attract large crowds, so the house where he is teaching is packed with people. The four friends who carry the paralyzed man to the house have so much faith in Jesus’ healing powers that they are not daunted by the crowd. They accomplish a near-impossible feat to get him into the presence of this man they have heard of—a man who performs miracles.

But Jesus doesn’t heal the paralyzed man right away. He first forgives the man’s sins. The teachers of the Law who see this think to themselves that this is blasphemy because only God can forgive sin. I am sure they were astonished when Jesus knew exactly what they were thinking. He explains his actions so that they “may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”

Then, Jesus heals the paralyzed man. All the people packed into the house see Jesus tell the man to get up, take his mat and walk. This is another wonderful moment to visualize in our prayer time. How would we feel if we were to witness such a thing take place? A man the townspeople know to be paralyzed suddenly stands and walks in full view of everyone. They cannot dismiss it as trickery. This is a miracle.

The suffering of the world is so immense that many turn away from it, thinking they do not have the power to help. Episcopal Relief & Development, along with other nonprofit organizations like it, is a witness to miracles. It may seem unrealistic to believe that enough donations can be gathered and enough programs launched to make a real difference in a world broken by injustice, but when we work together with Christ, we draw from an infinite well of miraculous healing.

Reflect: A question to ask God in your prayer life: Why did Jesus forgive the man’s sins in addition to healing him?

When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

— Mark 2:17

One of my favorite bits of wisdom is: “The church is not a museum for saints. It is a hospital for sinners.” This aphorism reflects Jesus’ ministry on earth, in which he confounded all the religious leaders by spending his time with sinners and outcasts.

Tax collectors in Jesus’ time were deeply reviled by the Jewish people. They were Jews who had betrayed their own people to work for the oppressive Roman Empire. Their sin was compounded by extracting huge sums of money and taking an additional percentage to line their own pockets.

Jesus regularly dined with these traitors and with many others who were considered a threat to their way of life. Law, order and separateness were deeply ingrained values in the Jewish culture. Why would Jesus, who claimed to be God incarnate, want anything to do with them?

In ministering to both the righteous and the sinners, Jesus shows us something about the nature of God. The love of God is not something to be reserved only for those who walk the narrow way and follow all the rules. It is equally given to everyone, no matter what they have done.

I once visited a house in Bristol, England, where female sex workers could find refuge from their tumultuous world. The house provided a therapeutic environment, medical care and a daily meal for the women and staff. When my fellow Sister and I sat down to the meal, one of the women off the street said in her delightful accent, “Well, look at me sittin’ among the holy!” I turned to her and said, “You are holy, too. We are all holy, and God loves every one of us.” She looked stunned, then let out a laugh and pointed all around the table, saying, “Look at all of you! You’re all holy, too!”

God incarnate came to earth and dined with sinners and showed us very clearly that we are all loved, and that none of us is a lost cause. Jesus can redeem us all, even if we believe we are irredeemable.

Reflect: Can you imagine God loving someone whom you consider to be evil or unredeemable? Can you imagine that God loves you and that person equally?

Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

— Mark 2:27

In religious life, we have a saying: “Charity overrules the Rule.” It means that sometimes we have to break our own strict Rule and Customary to follow the primary commandment of God to love our neighbor. If a visitor rings the doorbell when we’re in chapel, I can go down to greet that person. If I am visiting someone in the hospital or comforting someone in grief, I am automatically excused from chapel. I am a rule follower, but it’s nice to know that rules can be broken in the name of charity, our greatest grace.

In the Gospel text for today, the Pharisees disapprove of Jesus and his disciples for picking heads of grain on the sabbath, and in another incident, they watch him to see if he would heal a man on the sabbath. The Pharisees are committed to upholding the Law so that the Jewish people will be in a right relationship with God, who has commanded his chosen people to rest on the sabbath and refrain from doing any work.

Jesus, however, does not see feeding his disciples or healing a man as work. He sees these things as acts of mercy. He also becomes angry in the synagogue and asks, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” (Mark 3:4). The Pharisees remain silent. In the grain fields, he tells them that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath, which in modern parlance basically means “Hey, I’m God, so I made that rule. I know exactly how to interpret it, and you don’t.”

These incidents also point to a much broader meaning beyond these confrontations. Jesus flips the script, emphasizing the inner motivations of the heart over an outward adherence to the Law.

Reflect: What type of things get in the way of truly loving your neighbor?