Lent offers each Christian the opportunity to improve our communion with God. Each Christian must pray, examine his/her conscience, test our faith, our resolve to follow in Christ’s footsteps and create lives based upon humility, charity, obedience. Lent is a time for each Christian to remember Christ in the desert and to test ourselves. Doing the simple things we say that we are going to do during this time is a test. Will we be able to fulfill our penance.
Penance is not about giving up, penance is for moving forward, learning something about yourself, your relationship with God, learning how to strengthen and improve that relationship.
The forty days of Lent provides each Christian with a glimpse of God beautiful loving design for our lives if we allow ourselves to trust in his magnificent, omnipotent love.
Penance allows us to draw direct parallels with Christ’s life; Christ did not take the easy path; Christ made all types of sacrifices; Christ suffered. As Christians penance reminds us that goodness requires effort and is difficult to achieve; as Christians we must be prepared to offer sacrifices and to suffer. As Christians we must always remember all the things that Christ did to save us, all the things that Christ did to show us how to be like him.
The gift of salvation waits for those who are able to demonstrate their free will to live like Jesus, to follow in his footsteps. Lent is a journey; penance is the map guiding us through life’s mendacity, mediocrity, morbidity, temptations. Lent is not a time for solitude; each Christian must remember to invite and to include Jesus in their Lenten journey.
Lent offers each Christian the choice of following Christ on the road of humility. Lent offers each Christian a moment to examine each action, to make the right choice, to be victorious over sin with Christ.
The itinerary of the Lenten journey was hopefully decided before the penitential sign of the ashes was placed on a forehead. Lent is a period of hope and good will. For penance to be successful, some effort and prayer must be connected to it. It is not enough to simply give up chocolate or coffee for Lent without adding something, some moment of prayer or reflection, some way to move closer to God.
Ash Wednesday reminds each Christian that we are made of earth and someday we will return to earth. Lent reminds us that we are created in the image of God and that if we are humble, obedient servants we will live in heaven with God.
We must remember that God loves us. We must teach ourselves to recognize and respond to God’s call. We must understand free will means choosing to obey God.
Secular life downplays the beauty of the mystical and spiritual life for the clamorous diseases leading people away from God, into all types of sinful, bad behavior. The secular world pollutes and infects each of our lives with disturbing, imprudent, impious images and ideas attacking basic decency and morality. Human beings should live in harmony with each other and the world; secular interests encourage lust, envy, gluttony, pride.
Lent offers a time and a manner to turn away from the secular world, a time and a manner to turn toward God.
Lent offers us a time to reflect upon our own unfair behavior and hopefully will provide us with the desire and ability to permanently make changes which will make us better people, better Christians. Lent reminds us of the necessity of social justice and then encourages us to add alms giving, prayer, and fasting to our lives. These should not be directed toward other men, but directed toward God’s gaze.
As we journey through each day of Lent remember human dignity. Remember that we all need to pray for and have hope in social justice. Life’s disappointments and tragedies should direct us toward God. Lent is a time of spiritual renewal. Each of us is responsible for both our personal and community conversion. Our lives must not only reflect the teachings of Christ, our lives must project the teachings of Christ and his love for each of us.
Ash Wednesday symbolizes our humanity and the continuing struggles of our daily experiences, of our daily conversion.
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