During this Lenten season, parishes sometimes set up a desert-like scene in their church. The display may be composed of sand, stones, dry wood, burlap, cacti, and other elements meant to evoke the time that Jesus spent in the desert after his baptism.

As we heard in the Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent, “At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights.”

This desert scene display serves as a reminder that during Lent the Holy Spirit calls us into a “spiritual desert.” There, we are to consider how we are living as followers of Christ and how we are responding to the words we heard on Ash Wednesday, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”

During these “desert days” of Lent, we are to fast and pray as Jesus did and to examine how well we are resisting the temptations of the devil.

However, in light of this Sunday’s Gospel, there is another type of display that may be even more appropriate for this Lenten season: a mountain!

In Sunday’s Gospel, we hear how “Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.”

There, these apostles grew in their understanding of Jesus. They witnessed him transfigured in divine glory as he spoke with Moses and Elijah. As Peter, James, and John watched in awe, a voice from the heavens told them, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

This mountain-top experience opened the hearts and minds of the apostles; it confirmed their faith in Jesus, drew them closer to him, and strengthened them to endure the challenges they would encounter as followers of Christ.

We might understand Lent as the time when Jesus is inviting us to leave the “lowlands” of our everyday lives and to join him on the mountain.

We join the Lord on the mountain when we pray, meditate, read the scriptures, kneel before him in the Blessed Sacrament, and serve as witnesses to our faith in him by engaging in works of mercy, kindness, and charity.

Above all, we join the Lord on the mountain when we gather with our fellow Catholics for the celebration of Mass. There we hear the voice of God, not from the heavens, but as the scripture readings are proclaimed and explained. There, we encounter the Lord in the men and women who stand with us around His Holy Table. And there we become a “holy communion” as we share his life-giving Body and Blood.

As we make the effort to spend time on the mountain, we grow in our understanding of Jesus, and we deepen our relationship with him. We see him as the glorious Beloved Son of God and also as our Savior, Brother, and Friend.

Yes, Lent is a time to go into the “desert” and to reflect on our lives. However, Lent is also a time when we are invited to climb up the “mountain” and be with the Lord.

As Peter told Jesus as he was with him on the mountain, “Lord, it is good that we are here.”

  © 2026 Rev. Thomas Iwanowski