“Return to me with your whole heart.”— Joel 2:12
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: Another Lenten season is now upon us. The cycles of the liturgical year seem to come quickly, so it is always good to pause for a moment and to contemplate the meaning and importance of this season. Lent is rightfully known a time of penance. In a special way at this time of the year we call to mind our failings and pledge to turn away from sin because it
damages the communion we have with God and one another. With sin there is, in a sense, a great loneliness because sin separates us from God and our brothers and sisters. The loneliness of Jesus in the Garden and His sense of abandonment as he hung alone on the Cross—betrayed and rejected by his friends whose sins He bore—reminds us of the isolation that occurs from sin, the betrayal and rejection of Jesus that is sin.
That is why, in true sorrow for our sins, we pledge to rid ourselves of the obstacles that keep us from knowing Jesus more intimately, loving Jesus more ardently and living Jesus more totally. We do this especially in the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, which I strongly commend to you during the season and throughout the year. This sacrament offers not only the forgiveness of our sins and reconciles us with God and our neighbor, but it also confers the grace that will strengthen our resolve to be faithful to the Gospel and to follow Jesus more closely.
Still, Lent is not just a time of penance. It is also a time of preparation, a time of hope and a time of anticipation as we call to mind the redemption won for us through Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross. We are invited during Lent and every day of our lives to insert ourselves more deeply into the paschal mystery of Jesus’ suffering, dying and rising which culminates in the Easter Triduum of Holy
Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and Easter, the apex of the Church’s liturgical year.
At Baptism we enter into communion with Christ’s death and resurrection: our sin is buried with Christ, we are reborn and given access to God’s inner life. The renewal of Baptism, however, is not a one-time event. We must every day draw ourselves more fully and deeply into the paschal mystery. We must continually undergo conversion from the inside out: a change of mind, a change of heart, and a change of life. Of course, conversion is not simply for those who have lost or abandoned their faith. For many of us, conversion means enkindling a lukewarm faith or a faith that has been taken for granted.
In addition to fasting, almsgiving, prayerful reflection on Scripture, and other Lenten devotions, let us—in this, the Year of the Eucharist—connect ourselves more intimately with Jesus in the paschal mystery that is commemorated and made present during the Mass. When we receive the Eucharist, we take into ourselves Jesus’ own body, with His suffering, death and rising. When we
receive the Eucharist, we sacramentally share in and live the paschal mystery, dying with Christ, rising with Him, and sharing in His salvific mission.
May this Lent be a wonderful season of grace, a time of return to Jesus, a time to prepare ourselves to more deeply understand, appreciate and live the great mysteries of our faith.
God Bless You.