Lent begins this Wednesday – Ash Wednesday. Are you prepared to enter into this sacred season so that you will enjoy the fullness of grace this season can bring?
Lent is a time in which we look very honestly at our lives to see where there is a need for change so that we are living in greater faithfulness to what God expects of us in our relationship with God and with each other. How is your relationship with God? Do you pray daily? Do you attend Mass regularly? Do you actively participate in the Mass, that is, do you give your full attention to the Mass or is your mind occupied by all the things that you want to do after Mass? Do you seek the sacrament of reconciliation (confession) on a regular basis? Have you heard the voice of God challenge you recently – challenge some aspect of your current way of life? If not, you are either a saint or you are not listening very carefully! Have you been faithful to what God expects of you in your relationship with other persons? Do you succumb to the habit of gossip? Are you honest in dealing with other persons? Are you respectful of other persons – store clerks, bus drivers, delivery persons, day laborers? Do you use language that is intended to hurt or demean another person? Is there any hint of racism or prejudice in your heart? Are you critical of persons whose faith is different from yours? Lent gives us the opportunity for a genuine and thorough examination of whether we have lived in faithfulness to the fundamental commands of Christ.
Our Lenten Promise Project offers you the opportunity to choose to do something for Lent rather than giving up something for Lent. There is an announcement in the bulletin describing this project. What can you do this Lent that will serve to remind you of your identity as a disciple of Jesus Christ and that will strengthen that identity? Now is the time for each of us to embrace the season of Lent as an opportunity to renew, strengthen and deepen our discipleship in Jesus Christ.