DIRECTOR OF CATHOLIC IDENTITY

LENT

The season of Lent is a Catholic liturgical season consisting of forty days of fasting, prayer, and penitence beginning at Ash Wednesday and concluding at sundown on Holy Thursday. 

Lent as a journey of conversion, prayer and sharing of our goods, helps us – as communities and as individuals – to revive the faith that comes from the living Christ, the hope inspired by the breath of the Holy Spirit and the love flowing from the merciful heart of the Father.

Pope Francis in 2021 said that Lent is a time for believing, for welcoming God into our lives and allowing him to ‘make his dwelling’ among us. (cf. Jn 14:23).  Pope Francis is reminding us that the Lenten practices of fasting, almsgiving and prayer make it possible for us to live lives of sincere faith, living hope and effective charity, thereby sharing in Jesus' mission of the salvation of the world.

During Lent, Pope Francis invites us, the faithful, to draw from the living water of hope, and receive with open hearts the love of God. Throughout Lent; fasting, prayer and almsgiving, is what enables our conversion. The path of poverty and self-denial (fasting), concern and loving care for the poor (almsgiving), and childlike dialogue with the Father (prayer) make it possible for us to live lives of sincere faith, living hope and effective charity. 'This Lenten journey, like the entire pilgrimage of the Christian life, is even now illumined by the light of the resurrection, which inspires the thoughts, attitudes and decisions of the followers of Christ.'

As Catholics we are being asked to “experience Lent with Love” by extending the hand of charity to those affected by the coronavirus, war and natural disasters.  So may we all walk with our Sisters of Mercy and do as Catherine McAuley would have done.

Source: Pope’s Lenten Speech 2021 – Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne

Miss Paula Cox

Director of Catholic Identity