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March 3, 2022Abu Dhabi.
Lent is not only a time of penance but much more a time of love. In fact, God in today’s first reading is courting us like a lover is courting a woman:
“Come back to me with all your heart!”
God is longing for us. This coming back is expressed by “fasting, weeping, mourning”.
God is focussing our hearts: “Let your hearts be broken not your garments torn, turn to the Lord your God again, for he is all tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness, and ready to relent.” Truly, God has fallen in love with us.
Lent is a time of reconciliation: with God and with our fellow humans. According to Saint Paul, “now is the favourable time … the day of salvation.” Let us not miss the chance and prepare carefully the renewal of our baptism vows on Easter.
Lent is not a time of acrobatic ascetic efforts but a time of humble acting according to the teaching of Jesus: the ashes we are blessing and then receiving on our head remind us from where we come and where we shall go again: from dust to dust. To recognize this fact is true humility.
In this spirit, we undergo the works of Lent:- Giving alms without trumpeting it to the public
- Praying to the heavenly Father without making a lot of noise
- Fasting from food, drink and many other things that are not needed and so prepare our hearts for the heavenly food, Christ the true Bread of Life.
Finally, my dear friends, let us not forget the Holy Spirit as the love of God put into our hearts.
“Come back to me”, God is telling us, “with all your heart!”