February 16, 2007



Introduction

On this coming Wednesday, Feb. 21, we, together with the Church throughout the world, will begin the observance of the Season of Lent. On Ash Wednesday, we receive blessed ashes on our forehead as a sign of the prayer and penance which are the heart of our Lenten observance. The blessed ashes remind us that the earthly realities to which we cling so tightly and anxiously are passing and invite us to fix our eyes on our Lord Jesus Christ, on our life in Him, which is eternal.  

In his Lenten Message for this year, Pope Benedict XVI invites us to live the Season of Lent "as a ‘Eucharistic’ time in which, welcoming the love of Jesus, we learn to spread it around us with every word and deed." Our Holy Father invites us to find the pattern of our Lenten observance in our participation in the Holy Mass, identifying ourselves with Christ in the mystery of His Suffering and Dying. Christ pours out His life for our eternal salvation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, so that we, in turn, nourished by the heavenly Bread of His true Body and Blood will pour out our lives in love of our brothers and sisters, especially those in most need.  

During Lent, in a special way, we are asked to look upon the Body of Christ Who was crucified and died because of our sins and to recognize the pre-eminent sign of God’s unceasing love of us, that is, the pierced Heart of Jesus, opened to receive us all with deepest love. Our Holy Father has asked us to reflect, throughout the Lenten Season, on the text from the Gospel according to St. John: "They shall look on Him Whom they have pierced" (John 19:37). The text from the Prophet Zechariah points to the profound meaning of the action of the Roman soldier who, when Christ had died upon the Cross, pierced His Heart with a spear. Christ, after giving His very last energies for our salvation, permitted the Roman soldier to pierce His Heart. His open Heart, from which flowed the water and blood of His life, has, by His Resurrection, become the fountain, from which we receive His life, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, cleansing us of our sins and filling us with divine love.  

The Divine Heart and the Christian heart

Our Lenten observance uncovers for us, once again, the unfathomable love of God for us. The Holy Father expresses the truth of God’s love, received and shared through Lenten prayer and penance, with these words: "On the Cross, it is God Himself Who begs the love of His creature: He is thirsty for the love of every one of us." The glorious pierced Heart of Jesus remains always open to receive us, even when we have wandered far from Him and permitted our heart to become cold and hardened through sin. Our Lord permitted His Heart to be pierced so that He might pour out His life, to the very last ounce, for love of us. He waits patiently for our response of love. In the words of our Holy Father, "Christ ‘draws me to Himself’ in order to unite Himself to me, so that I learn to love the brothers with His own love."  

Our Lenten prayer and penance is, therefore, in no way, a kind of withdrawal from the world and from others. It is not a question of some kind of strictly private activity in our relationship with God. No, by its very nature, it draws us outward to Christ, to a fuller participation in His Eucharistic sacrifice, and, in Christ and through the Holy Eucharist, to all our brothers and sisters. When our hearts rest in the pierced Heart of Jesus, they are purified of all selfishness and set on fire with love of others. With reference to our Lenten theme, Pope Benedict XVI underlines the fruit of the union of our heart with the Heart of Jesus: "Contemplating ‘Him whom they have pierced’ moves us, in particular, to fight every form of contempt for life and human exploitation and to alleviate the tragedies of loneliness and abandonment of so many people." Our Lenten prayer and penance, if it is true, becomes a source of great blessing for all suffer and long for a sign of God’s merciful love in their lives.  

Prayer and penance lead to almsgiving

In responding to our Lord’s call to enter with Him into the desert of Lenten prayer and penance, I urge you to make the Holy Eucharist the center of your observance.  Participation in daily Mass, an act of spiritual Communion on the days when you are unable to participate in Mass, a daily visit to the Blessed Sacrament, prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in of one of our many churches and chapels with continuous or extended periods of Eucharistic exposition, and participation in the Archdiocesan Lay Eucharistic Conference, presented by Father Benedict Groeschel, on Saturday, March 24, at Saint Raymond’s Cathedral are all excellent ways to live Lent as "a ‘Eucharistic’ time."  

Closely connected to the union of our hearts with the Heart of Christ in the Holy Eucharist is the regular confession of our sins in the Sacrament of Penance. Through the Sacrament of Penance, we receive the forgiveness of our sins and the grace of peace, which dispose us to place our hearts more fully into the Heart of Jesus. The penance or act of satisfaction, assigned to us by the priest in Confession, is the premier form of our Lenten penance, drawing us to Christ and, in Christ, to our neighbor. If you would like a concise and practical help in preparing for the Sacrament of Penance, I recommend to you the pamphlet, "A Primer for Confession with an Examination of Conscience," by Father Frederick L. Miller, available from the Faith Guild of the St. Martin de Porres Lay Community at New Hope, KY. 40052 (call [270] 325-3061).  

Living Lent as a "Eucharistic" time strengthens us to live always in Christ, in the mystery of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Lent is an excellent time to prepare your home for the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as a sign that you belong completely to Christ, at all times and in every place. Lent is also a good time to become part of the Apostleship of Prayer by making the Morning Offering each day, and to begin the observance of the First Friday of the month. Information regarding the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is available through the archdiocesan Office of Sacred Worship.  

Two other devotions, which are, by nature, Eucharistic, also help us to live Lent in deepest union of heart with Christ. The daily praying of the Rosary, meditating, with the Blessed Virgin Mary, upon the mysteries of our salvation in Jesus Christ, is both an excellent preparation for Eucharistic worship and, at the same time, a proven means of drawing upon the grace of Eucharistic communion throughout the day. The praying of the Stations of the Cross, in a similar way, helps us to recognize more clearly the great Mystery of Faith, which is the Holy Eucharist, and to enter more deeply into the mystery of our life in Christ.  

Finally, as Pope Benedict XVI has reminded us so strikingly in his Lenten Message, our prayer and penance bear their fruit in acts of selfless love toward our neighbor, especially those who suffer in any way. Our suffering brothers and sisters are in our families, in our parishes, in our local communities and in our world. May our prayer, our looking upon Him Whom we have pierced, help us to look with love upon every suffering brother and sister, especially those whom our culture hides from our eyes. May our penance free us to be ever more generous in giving of our time, our personal gifts and our treasures, so that all men may know the mercy and love of God in their lives.  

May God grant to you and your home an abundance of strong Lenten grace!