led by Moses, wandered in the desert for forty years after their liberation from slavery in Egypt. Further, the prophet Elijah sojourned through the desert for forty days en route to Horeb, the mountain of God (cf. 1 Kings 19:8). We quickly recognize in these biblical episodes the deep significance not only of Jesus’ forty days in the desert, but also the forty days of Lent: “By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert” (CCC 540). This