March 15, 2020 - "Pope Francis Lenten Message"

I have been reading the Message of Pope Francis for Lent 2020.  I think that it is quite good.  For that reason, I want to share it with you.  Because of its length I will share it with you in the next two columns.  Here is the first part for your reflection and study.
 
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This year the Lord grants us, once again, a favorable time to prepare to celebrate with renewed hearts the great mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the cornerstone of our personal and communal Christian life.  We must continually return to this mystery in mind and heart, for it will continue to grow within us in the measure that we are open to its spiritual power and respond with freedom and generosity.
 
1. The Paschal mystery as the basis of conversion
Christian joy flows from listening to, and accepting, the Good News of the death and resurrection of Jesus.  This kerygma sums up the mystery of a love “so real, so true, so concrete, that it invites us to a relationship of openness and fruitful dialogue” (Christus Vivit, 117).  Whoever believes this message rejects the lie that our life is ours to do with as we will.  Rather, life is born of the love of God the Father, from his desire to grant us life in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10).  If we listen instead of the tempting voice of the “father of lies” (Jn 8:44), we risk sinking into the abyss of absurdity, and experiencing hell her on earth, as all too many tragic events in the personal and collective human experience sadly bear witness.
 
In this Lent of 2020, I would like to share with every Christian what I wrote to young people in the Apostolic Exhortation Christus Vivit:  “Keep your eyes fixed on the outstretched arms of Christ crucified, let yourself be saved over and over again.  And when you go to confess your sins, believe firmly in his mercy which frees you of your guilt.  Contemplate his blood poured out with such great love, and let yourself be cleansed by it.  In this way, you can be reborn ever anew” (No. 123).  Jesus’ Pasch is not a past event; rather, through the power of the Holy Spirit it is ever present, enabling us to see and touch with faith the flesh of Christ in those who suffer.
 
 2. The urgency of conversion
It is good to contemplate more deeply the paschal mystery through which God’s mercy has been bestowed upon us.  Indeed, the experience of mercy is only possible in a “face to face” relationship with the crucified and risen Lord “who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20), in a heartfelt dialogue between friends.  That is why prayer is so important in Lent.  Even more than a duty, prayer is an expression of our need to respond to God’s love which always precedes and sustains us.  Christians pray in the knowledge that, although unworthy, we are still loved.  Prayer can take any number of different forms, but what truly matters in God’s eyes is that it penetrates deep within us and chips away at our hardness of heart, in order to convert us ever more fully to God and to his will.

In this favorable season, then, may we allow ourselves to be led like Israel into the desert (cf. Hos 2:14), so that we can at last hear our Spouse’s voice and allow it to resound ever more deeply within us.  The more fully we are engaged with his word, the more we will experience the mercy he freely gives us.  May we not let this time of grace pass in vain, in the foolish illusion that we can control the times and means of our conversion to him.
 
Until next week,
Fr. John