Lent: An Invitation to Renewal
Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels! Exult, all creation around God’s throne! Jesus Christ, our King, is risen! . . . What good would life have been to us, had Christ not come as our Redeemer?
These words are sung every Easter Vigil in celebration of the great feast of the Resurrection. As Catholics we know the Easter Vigil is the greatest of all our liturgical celebrations because it celebrates the greatest event in the history of the world: Christ’s resurrection from the dead, the definitive victory over sin and evil.
We know and believe this, but we struggle as sinners to keep this truth first and foremost in our hearts and actions each day of our life. The Church knows us as well. She is concerned that we not allow this fundamental truth to be neglected or forgotten. Thus, the Church calls us to an annual spiritual journey of reflection, conversion, and renewal, a journey we call Lent.
In this sacred season, the Church invites us to renew in our lives the disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving so that we may experience a radical transformation and conversion of mind, body, soul and spirit. As you devote yourself to these disciplines, try each day to allow more time for solitude and prayer. Consider attending weekday Mass in addition to the Sunday obligation. Repent of sin and celebrate the precious gift of God’s mercy in the Sacrament of Penance. Fast from material things you do not need and reach out in love to those in most need and so often forgotten. Pray the Rosary on a daily basis, especially for the intention of peace throughout our world and within our hearts. Consider making the Stations of the Cross each Friday. The Lenten disciplines and spiritual practices of the Church help us to be renewed in our awareness of the reason the angels and all creation exult around God’s throne; they also help us to remember what we can so easily forget: that life would have no meaning for us if Christ had not come as our Redeemer!
It is my hope and prayer that this holy season will lead you closer than ever to an awareness of how precious you are to God and the great love He has demonstrated in giving us His only Son, Jesus Christ, who suffered, died and was raised from the dead for us!.
Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge