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The 40 days of Lent are an opportunity to move from the slavery of sin to the freedom found in reconciliation with God, Pope Francis said on Ash Wednesday.
“The Lenten journey is an exodus from slavery to freedom,” the Pope said on February 17. “These 40 days correspond to the 40 years that God’s people walked through the desert to return to their homeland. How difficult it was to get out of Egypt! “
The Israelites had many temptations during the 40 years they wandered in the desert and “so it is with us,” Francis added. “Our journey back to Godhead is blocked by our unhealthy attachments, held back by the seductive traps of our sins, by the false security of money and appearances, by the paralysis of our discontents.”
“To embark on this journey, we have to unmask these illusions.”
To mark the start of Lent, Pope Francis offered a Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica with about 50 cardinals and a congregation of about 100 people.
It has been the tradition of the Pope to say Mass on Ash Wednesday at the Basilica of Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill in Rome after a short procession from the nearby Church of San Anselmo.
But due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Mass was offered at the Vatican this year.
In his homily, Pope Francis reflected on St. Paul’s exhortation in 2 Corinthians to “be reconciled to God.”
“Be reconciled: the journey is not based on our own strength,” he said. “Heartfelt conversion, with the facts and practices that express it, is only possible if it begins with the primacy of God’s work. What allows us to return to him is not our own ability or merit, but his offer of grace. “
“The beginning of the return to God is the recognition of our need for him and his mercy, the need for his grace. This is the right path, the path of humility, ”Francis said.
He also noticed God’s message through the prophet Joel: “Turn to me with all your heart.”
“How many times, in our activity or indifference, have we said to him: ‘Lord, I’ll come to you later, wait … I can’t come today, but tomorrow I’ll start praying and doing something for others,'” he said.
“God now appeals to our hearts,” the Pope said. “In this life, we will always have things to do and excuses to offer, but now, brothers and sisters, it is time to return to God.”
According to Pope Francis, Lent is about more than the little sacrifices we make, but about realizing where our heart is heading and turning it toward a relationship with God.
“Lent is a journey that involves our whole life, our whole being,” he said, advising people to reflect on the conversion stories of Sacred Scripture to know how to start the journey of the Lenten season.
The story of the Prodigal Son, for example, shows us that it is time to return to the Father, he said: “We have fallen, like little children who constantly fall, little children who try to walk but keep falling and need time. and again, to be picked up by his father. “
“It is the forgiveness of the Father that always puts us back on our feet,” he said. “God’s forgiveness, confession, is the first step on our journey back.”
Another model to follow, the Pope pointed out, is that of the leper who, healed by Jesus Christ of his illness, returned to him in thanksgiving.
“All of us, all of us, have spiritual illnesses that we cannot cure on our own. We all have deep-seated vices that we cannot uproot alone. We all have paralyzing fears that we cannot overcome alone, ”he said.
“We need to imitate that leper, who returned to Jesus and threw himself at his feet,” he urged. “We need Jesus ‘healing, we need to present our wounds to him and tell him:’ Jesus, I am in your presence, with my sin, with my pains. You are the doctor. You can set me free Heal my heart. ‘”
According to the Pope, a part of Lent is lowering oneself, “making oneself small.”
“Today we bow our heads to receive the ashes. At the end of Lent, we will bow even more to wash the feet of our brothers and sisters, ”he said.
“Lent is a humble descent both inward and toward others,” he added. “It’s about realizing that salvation is not an ascent to glory, but a descent in love.”
