Today for the start of the Great and Holy Lent. Christ, on the request of his mother, changes the water to wine, at the wedding at Cana. At the end of the gospel reading, the master of the wedding feast says, ‘normally the best wine is served first then the inferior wine, but here you have saved the best wine for last.’ There is a greater moral inference that lies at the heart of what Christ is attempting to express by way of this miracle, and that is: in life remember that is not how you begin but how you end that matters. For example, the wedding started with less quality wine and ended with better quality wine. Similarly, in life, we always tend to start out with a “bang,” but end up a mess.

ou might be asking what does “Living in the Present” have to do with a Gospel reading that mainly deals with the idea of a  “faithful” servant. As I contemplated the idea of being a faithful servant (or we can say, faithful Christian, faithful person), I asked myself the question, “What makes a Christian a faithful Christian?” Immediately, the Lord directed me to “living in the present.” That is, if a person desires to be a faithful Christian, he or she must live in the present. This means that a person is concentrated on what is happening at the moment. He or she is diligent in completing the task at hand. Future planning and contemplation are necessary but not to the detriment of the present task. Forward thinking is encouraged but not before the reality of the present is handled.

In the Gospel Reading today Christ speaks about “being ready.” Christ, in order to explain this idea of “being ready,” speaks in regard to being ready at all times.  In order to do this, he makes an analogy to a homeowner and that if he had knowledge that a thief would break into his home, he would be ready to fight him off. The point is that we have to be spiritual ready at all times.

The wilderness is a place of desolation. Life as we are familiar with, either plant or human, is not capable in such a place. There is no sufficient water or vegetation.

Spiritually speaking the wilderness has similar meanings. It is a “phase” of our life that occurs where we feel abandoned by God (possibly). There are certain circumstances that have occurred that have caused pain and suffering, either through death, finances, marriage, children. Etc. There is emptiness, a certain loneliness that we feel during this time. Anxiety and fear grips us because we don’t know exactly what is going on. Although such statements are generalizations, I am almost sure that everyone understands what I am talking about because each one of us has felt something similar or same.

Believing or having belief in a doctrine, theology, or moral code, etc. is often considered a condition of the mind. That is, believing is a person’s willful consideration in accepting or rejecting an idea.