Taking Lent to the next level
When John the Baptist immersed Jesus of Nazareth in the Jordan River, Christ incarnated. It was a baptism of both water and fire.
Soaked externally in Earth's water and filled internally with the Holy Spirit's fire, Christ Jesus immediately plunged into the wilderness. For the next 40 days he fasted and prayed.
Why? One fundamental reason was to assist his becoming a divine human being -- the first human in whom lived the Christ. At the end of that time, he was tempted by two great adversaries who tried to thwart Jesus becoming divine, to abort Christ becoming human.
Are you yearning for Christ to fully incarnate you? If yes, fasting is still one of the best exercises and disciplines to assist with that transformation.
If you follow Christ's example, will you also face temptations? Yes, certainly. But that is ultimately a good thing, very much for your benefit.
~~~~~ And we know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
For those whom God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
Those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified.
Romans 8:28-30 ~~~~~
Have you ever wondered why Christ's fasting and temptations in the wilderness are associated with Lent?
Consider this: The wilderness experience was Christ's first 40 days of progressive incarnation into the body of Jesus. Lent reminds us of Christ's last 40 days of the progressive incarnation into the body of Jesus. The culmination of that divine human incarnation was achieved during the crucifixion.
Lent points to mysteries of incarnation, inviting us to not only observe but actually participate in the initiatory mysteries of the divine uniting with the human.
Fasting during Lent prepares and enables us to receive the extra graces and gifts that the spiritual world offers during this portion of the cycle of the year.
At the baptism, Jesus of Nazareth was the first human being able to consciously choose what the Apostle Paul described as "Not I, but Christ, in me". What Jesus accomplished at the baptism, and what Christ accomplished on the cross, opens the door to new possibilities for all of humanity.
This Lenten Fasting course will explore those possibilities. | 
