Our forty-day pilgrimage of
prayer, self-denial, and charity will begin this Wednesday. Our Lord Jesus
Christ, Who trod the path that we now start, wants to mould our hearts so that
we become as He is: more devout, temperate, and generous. Prayer, penance, and
almsgiving undertaken with the assistance of the Holy Spirit will lead us to a
greater likeness to Jesus.
These six penitential weeks
will conclude rapidly, but, let us pray, not before we have thrown off what
keeps us from loving Jesus as we ought. We must use Lent well if it is to have
its desired effect: a more intense union with Christ. Lent is really a two-way
street. God does His part by drawing us to Himself, urging us to choose Him
over all the distractions that cloud our minds. We do our part by cooperating
with His ever-abundant grace. We see how imperfect and needy we are. Prayer, mortification,
and works of charity strengthen us in the tiring fight to embrace Christ anew.
We accept and heed His message to deny ourselves, take up His Cross daily, and
follow Him. The Lord’s invitation to us couldn’t be clearer: “return to Me with
your whole heart, with fasting and mourning.”
True, as Christ reminds us in
the words of the Gospel, our Lenten efforts are to be seen by God; they are not
meant to impress our neighbour. Yet, it may be that someone will notice our
fresh fervor in prayer and self-denial, and our kindness towards those who
suffer, and be encouraged to assess their own relationship with Our Lord.
If, as St. Paul asserted, now
is the acceptable time to be reconciled to God and now is the day of salvation,
then we must recognize the gift that we call “Lent” which the Lord has
graciously granted to us. We look to seize the many opportunities for prayer,
penance, and almsgiving that are ours. Perhaps we will be able to attend daily
Mass and join in the Stations of the Cross at least several times during these
forty days. Attendance at our parish Reconciliation Service during Lent is a
wonderful way to prepare ourselves for the great celebration of Easter.
This season of Lent will be
over in a very short time. May we make the best of it and exclaim in union with
those who have gone before us: “A clean heart create for me, O God, and a
steadfast spirit renew within me.” I hope that our Lenten celebrations will be
very meaningful for you and enhance your personal faith journey.
Fr. Phil
