What if We Invited Jesus into the Desert with Us?

Roxane Salonen proposes a way to have a potentially more meaningful Lent this year — by bringing Jesus with us into it.

As we enter more fully into Lent, I hope it’s not too late to suggest something provocative that could be a potential game-changer for this year’s Lenten experience: inviting Jesus into the desert with us.

I’m anticipating a few murmurs of, “Well yeah, duh! Of course Jesus is coming with us into this sacred time.” But is He, really?

It’s possible this is old hat for some, but I’ll be honest, I’ve too often dreaded Lent. I’m one who hangs onto Christmas for as long as possible. Yes, my decorations remained up until Candlemas this year, as they have for the past decade or so, and it’s not just because I’m lazy. It’s intentional.

But at some point, I have to force myself to let go — something I’ve come to realize is a quintessential point in life. We let go to make room for something more. All of life is a saying goodbye to something so we can say hello to other things even more edifying.

Being Present to the One Always Present to Us

Lent is a letting go, too, and that’s why some of us dread it. We humans don’t like letting go, even if something better awaits. It’s just plain hard. But I’m hoping to inspire some of you to think of it a little differently this year.

Ironically, this idea came to me through a practice I’ve been doing for the past five years with Fr. Joel Sember called Oriens. Oriens is a journey, a pilgrimage, through Advent and the entire Christmas season meditating on Scripture and discovering a closer relationship with Jesus.

Each day’s meditation begins by calling on the Holy Spirit to “enlighten our hearts,” followed with these words:

Be present to the God who is always present to you. Call to mind his loving care and spend the first minute of your prayer just resting in the free, unearned gift of loving and being loved. Let gratitude rise in your heart.

After praying these words every day from the first day of Advent until Candlemas for five years now, something within me has changed. I’ve become more deeply aware of the presence of God — not in some ethereal way, but right next to me. And not just when I think of it, but in every moment. And it’s been transformative.

Bringing Advent into Lent

This year, as Lent approached, I realized something. My awareness of God in the Christmas season doesn’t have to go away during Lent. It’s not like Jesus says, “Hey, it’s been peachy hanging out with you, but I’m going to go now and let you have your Lent alone.”

Jesus was left alone. Jesus invited His disciples to come with Him into the desert. They had good intentions, but they fell asleep on Him. He was alone as He sweated blood in the depths of the desert, while they, in their humanity, slumbered.

But the truth is that Jesus wasn’t really alone. His heavenly Father was right there with Him. Jesus brought friends with Him as he set about His earthly mission, and we’re meant to do that, too, but friends can betray us at times. God never will.

Jesus was never alone—not in the desert or any other time. And that was the key to him moving through the next hard steps—knowing he was being guided by Goodness itself.

Why would Jesus expect anything less for us?

The good news is that He doesn’t! Jesus never meant for Lent to be a solo journey into darkness. He meant to accompany us through it, leaving a trail of light both in front and behind. He is the light! We don’t need to somehow diminish that in our minds, even though the Light of the World has gone into a place of deep prayer.

Have We Invited Jesus in?

We are heading into that darkness now, but it need not overwhelm us. He has always gone before us to lead the way, and He has every intention of walking with us — if we invite Him. He is a gentleman that way. It’s really that simple, and that profound.

What might that look like practically? Consider what you would bring on a journey that involved Jesus. One friend speaks of “high value” or “low value” activities and choices. Lent is a time to choose high-value endeavors — the kind that make more room for Jesus.

It’s not too late to discern what we’ll pack for this journey with Jesus. It’s not too late to invite Him on our Lenten adventure. It’s not too late to be transformed by His accompaniment and love.

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Copyright 2026 Roxane Salonen
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