Day 6: Daily Scripture Reading.

Six days into Lent, we are invited to dedicate time each day to reading and reflecting on God’s Word. Let the Scriptures speak directly to your heart, gently revealing areas in need of conversion, healing, and growth. Whether through the ancient practice of Lectio Divina reading, meditating, praying, and contemplating or through simple, loving attention to the text, allow the Word to become your daily bread. In the midst of the Lenten desert, Scripture sustains you, nourishes your soul, and keeps you oriented toward God when everything else feels barren.

The desert is not merely a place of deprivation; it is the pathway to the true abundance of God’s Kingdom. Heaven is symbolized by the lushest garden or the glorious city with streets of gold, yet Jesus deliberately chose the barren wilderness near Jericho caves with little light, no soft places to rest, scarce shade, and almost no food to dwell for forty days. At first glance, a cave might intrigue us as an adventure, but prolonged life there quickly reveals the absence of worldly comforts.

Jesus entered this desolate place not out of necessity, but freely, to teach us a profound truth: the riches and pleasures of this world cannot compare to the riches of a life of grace. Could you be happy living in a cave in the desert, stripped of material blessings? More importantly, was Jesus happy in that barrenness? Yes, deeply so. His happiness flowed entirely from perfect communion with the Father and joyful fulfillment of the Father’s will. Nothing delighted Him more. By embracing total poverty and deprivation, Jesus shows us that nothing on earth rivals intimate union with God.

When we examine our own lives, do we find them barren, or rather comfortable, indulgent, perhaps even extravagant? While there is no sin in reasonable comforts, every earthly delight carries the subtle temptation to believe that more of the same—more possessions, more pleasure, more ease will bring lasting happiness. These competing desires can crowd out the one thing necessary: God Himself.

This is where daily Scripture reading becomes our lifeline in the desert. The Word of God cuts through illusion, exposing the emptiness of worldly attachments and awakening our true hunger for Him. As you sit with a passage each day, let it confront any excess in your life, habits of comfort-seeking, distractions, or misplaced longings and invite purification. The Scriptures reveal where your soul has grown too attached to passing things and call you to follow Jesus into voluntary “barrenness”: simplifying where there is clutter, taming desires for luxury, and making space for God to fill you abundantly.

In this way, the desert is not an end but a preparation. God desires your soul not to remain barren, but to be overflowing with His grace. Daily immersion in Scripture helps you identify and purge what competes with Him, so that His Word can take root deeply and bear fruit. Like manna in the wilderness, it sustains you day by day, transforming dryness into trust, deprivation into dependence, and poverty into true riches.

Let us pray: My Lord of earthly barrenness, You came into this world poor and freely embraced total poverty in the desert for forty days. Set me free from the temptation to make the comforts and luxuries of this world my ultimate goal. Grant me the grace to dedicate time each day to Your holy Word, to listen attentively, and to let it purify and satisfy my soul. May I learn from You, who chose the desert’s poverty, and follow Your example with joy. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen.