We have ahead of us a path marked by prayer and sharing, by silence and fasting, in expectation of living the joy of Easter.
We begin Lent with Ash Wednesday and Scripture tells us: "Now, O oracle of the Lord, turn to me with all your heart with fasting, with weeping, with mourning. Rend your hearts and not your garments; turn to the Lord your God, for he is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, rich in mercy; and he repents of threats" Joel 2:12-13.
These are words pronounced by the prophet when Judah was plunged into a deep crisis. Its territory was desolate. A plague of grasshoppers had passed through, which had devastated everything; they had eaten everything that grew in the field, even the buds of the vineyards. They had completely lost all the crops and fruits of the year.
In the face of these misfortunes Joel invites the people to reflect on their way of life in the previous years. When everything was going well for them, they had forgotten God, they did not pray, and they had forgotten their neighbor.. They were confident that the land was bearing fruit on its own and it seemed to them that they owed nothing to anyone. They were comfortable doing what they were doing and did not think it was necessary to live life any other way.
The crisis they were going through, Joel suggests, should make them realize that they could do nothing on their own, with their backs to God. If they had peace and food, it was not because of their own merits. All this is a gift from God, for which it is necessary to be thankful.. Hence the urgent call for change: convert wholeheartedly with fastingwith weeping, with mourning, with weeping, with weeping, with mourning, tear your hearts: change!
Hearing such strong words from the prophet, perhaps we can think: Okay, okay, let the inhabitants of Judea change, but I don't have to change: I'm quite comfortable as I am!
It's been a long time since I've seen a grasshopper, I have good things to eat and drink every day, I have several movies to watch, this week I have several games to win,... and I'm not in a hurry because the finals are still far away and I will study seriously when they arrive..
I don't know about you, but I'm always too lazy to get serious about changing anything in Lent. The truth is that it is not a particularly pleasant time like, for example, the Christmas.
Listening to the responsorial Psalm, we may have thought something similar: "In your great compassion and mercy, O Lord, have mercy on me and forget my sins. Wash me thoroughly from all my transgressions and purify me from my sins".
And even in repeating "Mercy, Lord, we have sinned," perhaps it occurred to us inside to say: But I have no sins, ... in any case "little sins". I don't do wrong to anyone, I haven't robbed any bank, I haven't killed anyone, in any case, only "little things" of little importance. And, besides, I have nothing against God, I have not wanted to offend him, why should I say that I have sinned or beg for his mercy?
If we look at things this way, the words of St. Paul in the second reading may sound repetitive, but they raise the tone, pressing: "Brethren, we act as Christ's messengers, and it is as if God himself were exhorting you through us. In the name of Christ we ask you to be reconciled to God".
Am I so important and what I do so important that today everyone comes against me: the prophet Joel, David with his Psalm, and St. Paul pressing?
Well, the truth is yes, I am important to the Lord. None of us is indifferent to God, we are not just another number among the millions of people in the world. It's me, it's you. Someone you are thinking about, someone you miss a little, someone you want to talk to.
Haven't you ever been happy, after leaving class tired, to receive a message on your cell phone from someone you like and who asks you: "Do you have any plans this afternoon? Well, finally, someone who thinks of me! In general, one of the most pleasant things is to see that there are people who love us, who think of us, and call us to see us and spend a nice time together.
This week while reading the Bible I came across some words of human love, which are divine. They are the refrain of a song from the Song of Songs sung by the beloved to his beloved. They go like this: "Turn around, turn around, Shulamite! Turn around, turn around, I want to see you". Qty 7.1.
In fact, it seems that more than singing, they invite you to dance: "Turn around, turn around, Sulamita! Turn around, turn around, I want to see you". In Hebrew it sounds good: šubi, šubi šulamit, šubi, šubi... it even has its rhythm. The verb šub means "turn back, turn aroundbut it is the verb that in the Hebrew Bible also means "...".become".
These words of the Song help us to understand what is happening today. God, the beloved, invites each of us to dance, telling us: "turn around, turn around, I want to see you".
The invitation to conversion is not the scolding of someone demanding who is angry with what we do, but a loving call to turn around to meet Love face to face. No one pushes us to scold us. Someone who loves us has remembered us and sends us a message so that we can meet and talk in depth, opening our hearts.
Good. But, in any case, "I have no sins" what am I going to become?
There are many ways to explain what sin isI believe that Holy Scripture also helps us to clarify what it is. In Hebrew "sin" it is said jattatDo you know what the antonym is in the Bible, the word that expresses the concept "bet on"? jattat? In Spanish, perhaps we would say that the opposite of sin is "sin".good deed"or some theologian would say that "grace". In Hebrew, the antonym of chattat is šalom, peace.. This means that for the Bible neither "sin" nor "peace"are exactly the same as for us.
In the book of Job it is said that that man whom God invites to reflect and change, will experience šalom (peace) in his tent and when they search his dwelling, there shall be no jattat (nothing will be missing) cf. Jb 5:24.
They were nomads and for them the tent was their home. A house is in "sin" when something necessary is missing or when what is there is untidy. It is in "peace" when it is a pleasure to see it and to be there: everything is well installed, clean and in its place.
When we look inside ourselvesPerhaps our heart and soul are like our bedroom or the apartment in which we live: with the bed unmade, the table without removing the leftovers from dinner, with newspapers lying on the sofa, or the sink full of dishes waiting for someone to wash them. How our heart and soul feel at ease when we clean up the junk and tidy up!
That is why in confession, when we make a clean sweep of the jattat we carry inside, they give us absolution and tell us "....go in peace (šalom).", you are in order.
This week we begin LentOn the day of Ash Wednesday, the Lord calls us with love: 'turn around, turn around, I want to see you'.
He loves us and knows us well. He knows that sometimes we are a little careless, and he wants to help us clean up so that we may recover serenity, peace and joy.
That is why St. Paul insists so strongly: "in the name of Christ we ask you to be reconciled to God", and why delay? why put it off for another day? St. Paul also knows us and hurries us alongLook, now is the favorable time, now is the day of salvation.
This Ash Wednesday, we can surely find a confessor in any church, who in five minutes will help us to get in shape.
And, once, with everything in order, the Gospel of the Holy Mass we hear that Jesus himself gives us some interesting clues to make resolutions that help us rediscover the joy of loving God and others..
The first thing he suggests is that we realize that there are many people in need. around us, near and far from us, and we cannot remain indifferent to those who suffer.
In the first reading we remembered that, in the face of the grasshopper crisis in Judea, Joel said that it is necessary to tear out one's heart, to share the suffering with those who are suffering.
Today we are living in a deep crisis. Millions of people are unemployed. Many suffer, we suffer with them, the lack of work and all the needs that this brings with it. We cannot ignore their problems, as if nothing happened, nor close our hearts. They must notice that we are with them.
With those who die every day from the coronavirus pandemic or in the Mediterranean fleeing from the terror of war, or seeking a dignified life for themselves and their families in the tragedy of the migration crisis. In other parts of the world, too, daily life is even more difficult than here, and they urgently need help. "When you give alms, Jesus says, let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing; so your alms will remain secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you." Mt 6:3-4. GenerosityThis is a good first resolution for Lent.
There is also another type of "almsgiving", which does not seem so, because it is very discreet, but it is very necessary. Today we are generally very sensitive to the aspect of care and charity in relation to the physical and material good of others, but we are almost completely silent about the spiritual responsibility towards our brothers and sisters. This was not so in the early Church.
This effective form of "almsgiving" is fraternal correction: help each other to discover what is not going well in our lives, or what can go better. Are we not Christians who, out of human respect or simple comfort, conform to the common mentality, instead of warning our brothers and sisters about ways of thinking and acting that contradict the truth and do not follow the path of goodness?
Even if we have to overcome the impression that we are meddling in the lives of others, we must not forget that it is a great service to help others.. It will also be good for us to let ourselves be helped. "A gaze that loves and corrects, that knows and recognizes, that discerns and forgives is always needed." cf. Lk 22:61as God has done and does with each one of us.
Along with almsgiving, prayer. "You, Jesus tells us, when you go to pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is in the hidden place, and your Father, who sees in the hidden place, will repay you." Mt 6:6.
Prayer is not the mere mechanical recitation of a few words we learned as children; it is a time of loving dialogue with the one who loves us so much.. These are intimate conversations where the Lord encourages us, comforts us, forgives us, helps us to put our lives in order, suggests to us how we can help others, fills us with encouragement and joy of life.
And, thirdly, along with almsgiving and prayer, fasting. Not sad, but happyJesus also suggests in the Gospel: "You, when you fast, cleanse your head and wash your face, so that your fast may be noticed, not by the people, but by your Father, who is in the secret place; and your Father, who sees in the secret place, will reward you". Mt 6:17-18.
Nowadays many people fast, depriving themselves of appetizing things, and not for supernatural reasons, but to keep in line or improve their physical shape. It is clear that fasting is good for the physical wellbeing, but for Christians it is, in the first place, a "therapy" to cure everything that hinders us from adjusting our life to God's will.
In a culture in which we lack nothing, going a little hungry one day is very good, and not only for the health of the body. It is also good for the soul. It helps us realize how hard it is for so many people who have nothing to eat.
It is true that fasting means abstaining from food, but the practice of piety recommended in Sacred Scripture also includes other forms of deprivation that help to lead a more sober life.
Therefore, it is also good for us to fast from other things that are not necessary but that we find it difficult to do without. We could go on an Internet fast, limiting our use of the Internet to what is necessary for work, and dispensing with aimless surfing. It would be good for us to have a clear head, read books and think about interesting things. We could also fast from going out drinking on the weekend, it would be good for our pocket, and we would be fresher to talk quietly with friends. Or we could fast from watching movies and series on weekdays, it would be good for our study.
Would it be all right if we fasted for a whole day from mp3 and similar formats, and walked down the street without headphones, listening to the wind and the birds singing?
To deprive oneself of the material food that nourishes the body (on Ash Wednesday or during Lent), of the alcohol that gladdens the heart, of the noise that fills the ears and the images that quickly follow one another on the retina, facilitates an interior disposition to look at others, to listen to Christ and to be nourished by his word of salvation. By fasting we allow him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger we experience in our innermost heart: the hunger and thirst for God.
In two days, priests and deacons will impose ashes on our heads while saying: "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return". These are not words to frighten us into thinking of death, but to put us in reality and help us find happiness. Alone we are nothing: dust and ashes. But God has designed for each and every one of us a love story to make us happy.
As the poet Francisco de Quevedo said, referring to those who have lived close to God in their lifetime, who will keep their love constant beyond death, "dust they shall be, but dust in love."
We begin the season of Lent. A joyful and festive time to turn to the Lord and see Him face to face.. šubi, šubi šulamit, šubi, šubi... "Turn around, turn around, tells us once againturn around, turn around, I want to see you." These are not sad days. They are days to make way for Love.
We turn to the Blessed Virgin, Mother of Fair Love, so that in contemplating the reality of our life, even if our limitations and defects are obvious, we may see the reality: "dust we shall be, but dust in love".
Mr. Francisco Varo PinedaDirector of Research at the University of Navarra. Professor of Sacred Scripture at the Faculty of Theology.
Dear brothers and sisters:
With the penitential sign of ashes on our heads, we begin the annual pilgrimage of Holy Lent, in faith and hope. The Church, mother and teacher, invites us to prepare our hearts and to open ourselves to God's grace so that we can celebrate with great joy the Easter triumph of Christ, the Lord, over sin and death, as St. Paul exclaimed: "Death has been conquered. Where is your victory, death? Where is your sting?" ( 1 Cor 15:54-55).
Jesus Christ, dead and risen, is indeed the center of our faith and the guarantor of our hope in the great promise of the Father: eternal life, which he has already realized in him, his beloved Son (cf. Jn 10:28; 17:3) [1].
In this Lent, enriched by the grace of the Jubilee Year, I wish to offer you some reflections on what it means to walk together in hope and to discover the calls to conversion that God's mercy addresses to all of us, personally and as a community.
First of all, to walk. The Jubilee motto, "Pilgrims of Hope," evokes the long journey of the people of Israel toward the Promised Land, narrated in the book of Exodus; the difficult journey from slavery to freedom, willed and guided by the Lord, who loves his people and always remains faithful to them.
We cannot recall the biblical exodus without thinking of so many brothers and sisters who today are fleeing situations of misery and violence, seeking a better life for themselves and their loved ones. A first call to conversion arises here, because we are all pilgrims in life.
Each one of us can ask ourselves: how do I allow myself to be challenged by this condition? Am I really on the way or a bit paralyzed, static, fearful and hopeless; or satisfied in my comfort zone? Am I looking for ways to liberate myself from situations of sin and lack of dignity? It would be a good Lenten exercise to confront ourselves with the concrete reality of an immigrant or pilgrim, letting them challenge us, in order to discover what God is asking of us, to be better travelers towards the Father's house. This is a good "examination" for the wayfarer.
Secondly, let us make this journey together. The vocation of the Church is to walk together, to be synodal [2]. Christians are called to journey together, never as solitary travelers. The Holy Spirit urges us to go out of ourselves to go towards God and towards our brothers and sisters, and never to close in on ourselves [3].
Walking together means being artisans of unity, starting from the common dignity of children of God (cf. Gal 3:26-28); it means walking side by side, without trampling on or dominating the other, without harboring envy or hypocrisy, without letting anyone be left behind or feel excluded. We are going in the same direction, towards the same goal, listening to one another with love and patience.
This Lent, God asks us to check whether in our lives, in our families, in the places where we work, in parish or religious communities, we are capable of walking with others, of listening, of overcoming the temptation to close ourselves in our self-referentiality, taking care only of our own needs.
Let us ask ourselves before the Lord if we are capable of working together as bishops, priests, consecrated and lay people, at the service of the Kingdom of God; if we have an attitude of welcome, with concrete gestures, towards the people who approach us and those who are far away; if we make people feel part of the community or if we marginalize them [4]. This is a second call: conversion to synodality.
Thirdly, let us travel this path together in the hope of a promise. May the hope that does not disappoint (cf. Rom 5:5), the central message of the Jubilee [5], be for us the horizon of the Lenten journey towards Easter victory. As Pope Benedict XVI taught us in the Encyclical Spe Salvi, "human beings need unconditional love.
He needs that certainty that makes him say: "Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present, nor future, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any creature can separate us from the love of God, made manifest in Christ Jesus our Lord" ( Romans 8:38-39). Jesus, our love and our hope, is risen [7], and he lives and reigns in glory. Death has been transformed into victory, and in this lies the faith and hope of Christians, in the resurrection of Christ.
This is, therefore, the third call to conversion: that of hope, of trust in God and in his great promise, eternal life. We must ask ourselves: do I possess the conviction that God forgives my sins, or do I behave as if I could save myself? Do I long for salvation and invoke God's help to receive it? Do I live concretely the hope that helps me to read the events of history and impels me to commit myself to justice, fraternity and care for the common home, acting in such a way that no one is left behind?
Sisters and brothers, thanks to the love of God in Jesus Christ, we are protected by the hope that does not disappoint (cf. Rom 5:5). Hope is "the anchor of the soul," sure and steadfast. In it the Church prays that "all may be saved" ( 1 Tim 2:4) and hopes that one day she will be united to Christ, her Spouse, in the glory of heaven. This is how St. Teresa of Jesus expressed herself: "Wait, wait, for you do not know when the day or the hour will come. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, although your desire makes the certain doubtful, and the short time long" (Exclamations of the soul to God, 15, 3) [9].
May the Virgin Mary, Mother of Hope, intercede for us and accompany us on our Lenten journey.
Rome, St. John Lateran, February 6, 2025, memorial of Saints Paul Miki and companions, martyrs.
FRANCISCO.
[1] Cf. Dilexit nos (24 October 2024), 220.
[2] Cf. Homily at the Holy Mass for the canonization of Blessed John Baptist Scalabrini and Blessed Artemides Zatti (October 9, 2022).
[3] Cf. ibid.
[4] Cf. ibid.
[5] Cf. Bull Spes non confundit, 1.
[6] Encyclical Letter Spe salvi (30 November 2007), 26.
[7] Cf. Sequence of Easter Sunday.
[8] Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1820.
[9] Ibid., 1821.
