The Holy Season of Lent

Hello my dear young people, Peace and love to all of you!

All too soon the season of Lent is here with us. Lent as we all know is a great time in the life of the Church as we prepare to celebrate the passion, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. It is a journey which begins on Ash Wednesday. On Ash Wednesday, I believe many of you had the opportunity to attend Holy Mass with your families to receive ashes on your foreheads. The ashes remind us of our weakness, frailty, and our human condition which is prone to sin. But again this season of Lent brings awareness tot he fact that in spite of our weakness and sin, God's love abounds for each of us. This is great news! It is His love for us which makes it possible for us to receive His mercy and foregiveness. Lent is thus a time to receive God's grace not in vain.

Lent is a time to combat our weaknesses; a time to fast from our desires so we can feed our spirits and join ourselves in Christ. Lent is dying to our own self-centeredness in order to bring life to others. Lent is about sharing life, and the good things of life with others. Many of us will recall the Gospel of Ash Wednesday about prayer, fasting and alms giving. Prayer enables us to draw more closer to God and listen to Him speak to us about the way we should follow His way this great season; fasting enables us to die to our desires and live for others; alms giving enables us to share with others.

All of us want to have a very fruitful Lenten season which is a wonderful idea. But I think we can accomplish that when we allow the agenda of God to take first place in our lives. What is it that God wants from me this season of Lent? This is a question we should reflect on as we journey with Jesus through Lent. As I said earlier, let us not take the grace of God in vain, but rather make use of the graces of the sacrament of reconciliation and the holy Eucharist. Let us spend time reading and meditating on the World of God, a weapon to overcome our weakness. Pray more than you have before and God will surely hear and answer you. Let us journey together in faith with Jesus as we contemplate His Love for each one of us. God Bless and keep you throughout this wonderful season of Lent. Have a very fruitful Lent. I hope to catch up to you again next week.

Father Andrew