<p><em>Fr. Bruno Barnhart, OSB Cam</em><br /><br />The forty days of Lent recall the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert after his baptism. One way to understand the meaning of Lent is through its relation to baptism, both Jesus’ and our own. When, after fasting for those forty days, Jesus was tempted to turn stones into bread, he replied to the tempter with the scriptural words, “The human person shall not live by bread alone.” (Luke 4:4).<br /><br />Jesus’ reply directs us to an inner source of life, beyond the external food on which we are accustomed to rely. And that deeper source of life, directly related to baptism—Jesus’ baptism and ours—is the new indwelling presence of the divine Spirit.<br /><br />During our annual forty days in the desert of Lent we are urged to discover once again the spring of living water that was opened at our baptism. It is for this reason that we try to lessen our dependence upon external supports. Easter and baptism are inseparably joined. <br /><br />It is at the Easter celebration that we are invited to share the experience of Jesus’ resurrection, a new birth with the newly baptized. From the same inner spring, now cleared and flowing more abundantly, the life and love of God pour forth into our world. <br /><br />It is to this that our Lenten practice opens us.</p>