Food for thought

Last year, in his last public homily as a sitting pope, Pope Benedict XVI said during Ash Wednesday that “by the grace of God, we are called to transform (the Gospel) into a concrete attitude and behaviour during Lent.”

Mar 27, 2014

Last year, in his last public homily as a sitting pope, Pope Benedict XVI said during Ash Wednesday that “by the grace of God, we are called to transform (the Gospel) into a concrete attitude and behaviour during Lent.”

Rather than making small changes, Lent is about something deeper than just giving up chocolates or coffee or sugar. It is about a deeper transformation that takes place in us so that we can return to God, he said.

None of this transformation is without pain or suffering, he said. Our journey takes us through a transformation that involves passing “through the cross” and “following Christ on the road to Calvary,” learning to render “the total gift of self,” he said.

“It is a journey on which each and every day we learn to leave behind our selfishness and our being closed in on ourselves, to make room for God who opens and transforms our hearts.”

This journey, and the transformation it brings, is not easy, he said. “But this return to God becomes a reality in our lives only when the grace of God penetrates and moves our innermost core, gifting us the power that ‘rends the heart.”’

Total Comments:0

Name
Email
Comments