Lent, a testing time for genuine conversion, a joyous journey towards Easter, says
Pope
(March 10, 2011) Lent, which began on Ash Wednesday, “in the common opinion is likely
to be characterized by sadness, the greyness of life. Instead it is a precious gift
of God, it is a time of strength and full of significance in the journey of the Church,
it is the road to the Lord's Passover,” Pope Benedict XVI said. At the Church of Santa
Sabina, traditional starting point for papal celebrations of the day, the Pontiff
urged the faithful to accept the testing days of Lent and the joyous journey towards
Easter as a “genuine” moment of conversion to God. After coming to the ancient Roman
basilica in a penitential procession from the nearby Church of San Anselmo on the
Aventine, the Pope in his homily offered an indication on how to live Lent fully.
It is “to implement an attitude of genuine conversion to God, to return to Him by
recognizing His holiness, His power, His majesty. And this conversion is possible
because God is rich in mercy and love. His mercy is all-renewing, which creates in
us a clean heart, bringing new life to our spirit, giving us the joy of Salvation.
God does not want the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live,” he
said. Jesus, in today's Gospel, said Pope Benedict, reinvigorates the three major
works of mercy under the Law of Moses. Almsgiving, prayer and fasting are the three
foundational works of piety under Jewish law. Over time, these provisions had been
eroded by a rigid external formalism, or even mutated into a sign of superiority.
Jesus highlights in these three works of mercy a common temptation. Let us begin “our
Lenten journey with trust and joy. Forty days separate us from Easter, this is a powerful
time in the liturgical year, and it is a special time that is given to us to look,
with greater commitment, to our conversion, to listen more attentively to the Word
of God, a time for prayer and penance – of opening our hearts to the workings of Divine
will, said the Holy Father.