Update on Violence in Malakal & Lent

Yesterday, The New York Times carried an Associated Press story that confirmed that 14 civilians had been killed as a result of clashes between Khartoum and South Sudan military personnel in the city of Malakal, in the state of Upper Nile earlier in the week. This is in addition to a total of 30 soldiers who died, and more than 80 who were wounded. Among the Sudanese civilians who lost their lives was Bol Biel, a longtime resident of Minnesota, USA, who was in Malakal visiting his family.

This violence reflects the heightened tension in the country over the impending ICC indictment of and arrest warrant for Sudan President Omar al Bashir for crimes committed in Darfur, and the uncertainty that surrounds the effect that this development will have on the country. The ICC has said it will announce its decision concerning Bashir next Wednesday, March 4.

Jesus tempted by Satan in the desert

Lent began in Sudan and around the world this past Wednesday, and it always seems to be mysteriously accompanied by an intensification of struggles and crises. Perhaps this is because, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us: “By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert” (n 540), and somehow relives and enters into His struggle against evil. Although He was without sin, Jesus allowed Himself to experience our weakness and “was tempted in every way we are” (Heb 4:15), to be able to help us when we are tempted (Heb 2:18).

The First Sunday of Lent always presents us with an account from one of the Gospels of the Temptations of Jesus in the Desert, which takes place right after His Baptism and just before beginning His Public Ministry. Tomorrow, St. Mark will tell us that it was the Holy Spirit Himself who led Jesus into the wilderness, and there He found Himself tempted by Satan and caught between wild beasts and angels. That pretty much sums up our human predicament: a tug of war between our lower, wounded, instintual "animal" nature, what St. Paul calls "the flesh," and "the spirit" - the transcendent dimension of our being that opens out to God, to love, to others. The devil - "the beast" himself - is of course pulling on the side of the bestial, which is why we need Jesus pulling for us on the other side.

Maybe during Lent God allows us to experience our weakness and vulnerability even more vividly so that we will be reminded of how much we – individually and humanity as a whole – need Jesus, need a Savior who takes upon Himself the sins of the world and – as the Lamb of God – takes them away. It is only after undergoing the temptations that follow His baptism that Jesus can proclaim the Kingdom of God in the power of the Spirit and overthrow the kingdom of darkness. Perhaps the same is true for those of us who have been baptized into Christ; passing through the fire of temptation and trial somehow prepares us to collaborate with Jesus in confronting evil and laboring for the salvation of the world.

Please pray especially during Lent for lasting peace in Sudan!