Journeying Together
How are you going to spend this six weeks of the Season of Lent? At the beginning of Lent, I often hear some people declare: ‘I am not giving up anything this Lent, instead I am going to do something for Lent.’
Whether we give up something or do something we are all seeking, in this season, to live more intently a life of prayer, almsgiving and fasting. These are the means by which we become more open to Jesus and deepen our relationship with him. At the same time, these three elements are the means by which we become closer to our brothers and sisters, so that we grow in love and reach out to them in their need. Lent is our spiritual journey to the great feast of Easter. At Easter we all have the opportunity to renew our baptismal promises.
This Lent is particularly a special time of reflection for four adults who will be baptised at the Easter Vigil on Saturday 21st April. We call this time of Lent, for those who are to be baptised at Easter, the period of Purification and Enlightenment. Besides those being baptised at the Easter Vigil, five adults are to be received into the Full Communion with the Catholic Church and six adult Catholics are to complete their initiation by receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Pope Francis, in his letter for Lent this year, proposes a few reflections on what it means to journey together in hope, and on the summons to conversion that God in his mercy addresses to all of us — as individuals and as a community.
He says a first call to conversion comes from the realisation that all of us are pilgrims in this life. Each of us is invited to stop and ask how our lives reflect this fact. Am I really on a journey or am I standing still, not moving, either immobilised by fear and hopelessness or reluctant to move out of my comfort zone? Am I seeking ways to leave behind the occasions of sin and situations that degrade my dignity?
He says the second call is to journey together. The Church is called to walk together, to be synodal. Christians are called to walk at the side of others and never as lone travellers. The Holy Spirit impels us not to remain self-absorbed, but to leave ourselves behind, and keep walking towards God and our brothers and sisters.
The third call to conversion is for us to journey together in hope, for we have been given a promise.
May the hope that does not disappoint (cf. Romans 5:5) — the central message of the Jubilee — be the focus of our Lenten journey towards the victory of Easter. He says: ‘Let us ask ourselves: Am I convinced that the Lord forgives my sins? Or do I act as if I can save myself? Do I long for salvation and call upon God’s help to attain it? Do I concretely experience the hope that enables me to interpret the events of history and inspires in me a commitment to justice and fraternity, to care for our common home and in such a way that no one feels excluded.’
May the Spirit guide you, as you journey from Ashes to Easter.
