We are quickly approaching Lent—a time to reflect on our lives and how to reform them to live more like Jesus. Many times, this interior reflection will take us to places we don’t want to advertise to the world. In today’s gospel, too, Jesus wanted to get away from the crowds because he knew of the horrible things that were going to happen to him. Imagine the anguish he must have felt and the need to confide with his close friends.
As we approach Lent, let us journey with Jesus as a friend and share in confidence those things that we need to confide, trusting that he loves those parts too.
—James Antonio, S.J., a Jesuit scholastic of the Oregon Province, is currently studying philosophy at St. Louis University. He lives at the Bellarmine House of Studies in St. Louis.