Lenten observance in the early centuries of the Church was closely linked with Christ's forty days of testing in the desert. So the Lenten journey has long been seen as going with Jesus, figuratively at least, into the desert. The Catechism of the Catholic Church notes: "By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert" (#540).

"Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry" (Luke 4:1-2). Jesus was tempted by the devil to use his divine and human powers for his own personal desires rather than to use them generously and unselfishly for others according to God's plan of redemption.

During Lent, we practice disciplines that are aimed at renewing and transforming our lives, to help us rise with Christ to the often harsh challenges of self-giving love.