The 40 days of Lent allow us to concentrate on the passion and violent death of Jesus Christ, the merit of which God the Father used to ransom the human race. It is a time for personal examination and spiritual renewal. These weeks moving up to the Holy Week ceremonies we meditate on the entirety of Christ’s mission of salvation, His life, teachings, healings in the light of His coming and His death and resurrection. Why not add a spiritual challenge to your Lenten resolutions: Perhaps, attend Mass an extra day of the week, read the Bible on a regular basis, pray the rosary or even just one decade weekly or daily or study the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
It is Catholic belief that we are not the mere biological result of chance. Rather, there is a God who purposefully created us and the world in which we live. Reason alone could lead us to know that God exists. But, through the Scriptures, especially through the words and example of Jesus Christ, God has revealed that our perfect joy comes only from living in a personal relationship with Him.
We tread these forty days because we want to love God better, know ourselves better and love our neighbor better. Church is a group experience for Christians. We come together as a group because God created us to live in community and because Jesus modeled community as the way to God with his own twelve apostles and any number of other disciples, men and women, who were connected with his ministry. We know that if we try to journey alone, we will likely get lost.
None of us is perfect. None of us knows the way all of the time. We all fail. We all need help. So, we come to listen to the Word of God and nourish ourselves with his Eucharist and share our strengths and challenges, our joys and sorrows for our own good and the good of all.
During Lent we discover out of the spiritual treasure troves of Church the fonts of God’s mercy and the richness of our fellowship with one another through the rituals of Eucharist, reconciliation, scriptural prophecy and life promised us in His resurrection.
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