![]() Easter, to which Lent is oriented, is the mystery which gives meaning to human suffering, based on the superabundant compassion of God, brought about in Jesus Christ. Thus, prayer proves to be the first and principal “weapon” with which to win the victory “in our struggle against the spirit of evil” (cf. Yet in both these circumstances it is by praying that Christ unmasks the wiles of the tempter and defeats him. Prayer alone with the Father face to face in the desert prayer filled with “mortal anguish” in the Garden of Olives. One is at the beginning and the other almost at the end of his public ministry: the 40 days in the desert, on which the Season of Lent is based, and the agony in Gethsemane – are both essentially moments of prayer. Two moments of Jesus’ earthly existence come to mind. ![]() Even in the loneliness of the most severe trial, nothing and no one can prevent me from addressing the Father “in the secret” of my heart, where he alone “sees”, as Jesus says in the Gospel (cf. ![]() Prayer nourishes hope because nothing expresses the reality of God in our life better than praying with faith. At the beginning of our penitential journey, I would like to pause briefly to reflect on prayer and suffering as qualifying aspects of the liturgical Season of Lent. Both are seasons of purification – this is also indicated by the liturgical colour that they have in common – but in a special way Lent, fully oriented to the mystery of Redemption, is defined the “path of true conversion” (cf. If Advent is the season par excellence that invites us to hope in the God-Who-Comes, Lent renews in us the hope in the One who made us pass from death to life. The place of prayer and suffering in the Christian life – especially in Lent. Such exterior gestures, which are done to please God and not to obtain the approval and consensus of men, are acceptable to him if they express the determination of the heart to serve him with simplicity and generosity.įasting, to which the Church invites us in this particular season, certainly is not motivated by the physical or aesthetical order, but stems from the need that man has for an interior purification that detoxifies him from the pollution of sin and evil it educates him to that healthy renunciation which releases the believer from the slavery to self that renders him more attentive and open to listen to God and to be at the service of the brethren. They are the three fundamental practices also dear to the Hebrew tradition, because they contribute to the purification of man before God (cf. He reminds us of the traditional Lenten program. In this way, all those who bore witness to Christ with their blood are commemorated, and calling them to mind then becomes an incentive for each Christian to renew his or her own adherence to the Gospel. In the Basilicas where their relics are exposed, Holy Mass is celebrated, preceded by a procession during which the litanies of the Saints are sung. The penitential procession with which we began today’s celebration has helped us enter the typical atmosphere of Lent, which is a personal and community pilgrimage of conversion and spiritual renewal.Īccording to the very ancient Roman tradition of Lenten stationes, during this season the faithful, together with the pilgrims, gather every day and make a stop – statio – at one of the many “memorials” of the Martyrs on which the Church of Rome is founded. The saints are models and incentives for Gospel living. ![]() I have selected passages from each of those homilies which, taken together, should provide you with a very full road-map for your Lenten pilgrimage. In the course of his all-too-brief pontificate, he preached on eight Ash Wednesdays. ![]() The man I have in mind is none other than the recently departed Pope Benedict XVI. To that end, I want to offer you today the insights of a brilliant theologian and a most effective preacher, able to stir reflection in towering intellects like his own but also able to reach the average Catholic in the pew. The success of a thousand-mile journey depends, in large measure, on having a seasoned and effective travel guide. The Chinese proverb teaches us: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Ash Wednesday is that first step in our annual Lenten journey. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |