The Church invites us to enter into the spirit of Lent with faith and generosity, to be effectively what we are already essentially since our baptism - that is, "other Christs" or, according to the expression of St. Thomas Aquinas, "Christs in miniature." It is, therefore, necessary for us to enter into the soul of Christ to embrace all that He desires and is drawn to.
Dear Friends and Benefactors,
The Church invites us to enter into the spirit of Lent with faith and generosity, to be effectively what we are already essentially since our baptism - that is, "other Christs" or, according to the expression of St. Thomas Aquinas, "Christs in miniature." It is, therefore, necessary for us to enter into the soul of Christ to embrace all that He desires and is drawn to.
By His teaching and His life, Christ has revealed to us His fundamental desire: He has come among us only to do the will of His Father. His life on earth can be summarized in this marvelous will to love His Father and to do the Father's will even at the cost of His own. To please the Father was His constant thought. His whole life manifested the Glory of His Father: He was turned towards the Father, always tending towards Him.
We must become like Christ and imitate Him by turning towards our Father in Heaven in order to manifest His glory. In English, this movement of "turning towards" has a name: conversion!
Lent is a time of conversion which enables us to re-direct ourselves towards God. It would be erroneous to think that it is, above all, a question of becoming better or of developing our personality. It is about God. It is a question of giving Him our whole life so that it is really ordered (or re-ordered, if you prefer). God is the light of Lent and our efforts are useless if they are not a means to bring us more and more into this divine light. The effort of Lent consists in giving God His true place at the cost of our comforts and pleasures - because we carry with us, indeed, a retinue of bad habits and defects.
The worst of our vices is our habitual state of spiritual lethargy, the mediocrity characteristic of our times, against which we fight too half-heartedly because, deep down, we are very comfortable with it! It agrees very well with our idleness. We rest in a tranquillizing tepidity that deadens in us the virtue of fortitude.
Having thus described the situation - because it is important to know it and to reflect often upon it, so that we can enter with intelligence and perseverance into this season's penitential battle - it is necessary for us now to consider the practical realizations, because words are not enough. Words may even become formidable enemies if, enthused by their sound, we disregard passing into action.
We must find in ourselves what puts up obstacles to grace, making it possible for the devil to take hold of us. What is our principal weakness, the one that makes us turn into ourselves and which the devil uses to prevent us from turning towards Christ, from converting and becoming another Christ?
The principal weakness is fear! Fear of suffering, fear of engaging ourselves, fear of separating ourselves from certain pleasures, fear of giving ourselves up: in a word, fear of dying. Paralyzed by this fear, we become incapable of even the smallest effort and -having become experts at the art of avoiding reality - we advance all possible excuses in order to hide our tenacious attachments! We complacently excuse ourselves with a disconcerting facility and speed, while we judge severely and without pity our neighbor's peccadilloes!
We must, then, uproot this fear by taking the firm resolution of building our life upon the rock that is Christ.
But beware of theories! Let us pass into concrete resolutions, which should be simple and very few. As the saying goes, "he who embraces too much, holds very little!" Conversion is a vital movement, and, as such, barely visible and slow. Let us be wary of noisy and flashy resolutions.
We permit ourselves to suggest some points for a reform of life, to encourage those (perhaps too many) who wait until Good Friday to make resolutions that will not last...
Prayer: Do not try to multiply your prayers, but instead, when praying, take care to put yourselves in the presence of God by faith, hope and charity. Strive to turn your prayers into acts of faith, seeking God hidden in the depth of your souls, embracing Him solely by faith.
Order: Bring it progressively into your life. Start by putting your desk and your room in order, each evening (systematically devoting three minutes to that). Answer without delay the promptings of grace when it invites you to be faithful to your duty of state.
Custody of the heart: Remain in the presence of God - do not live up in the clouds! Be joyous in all circumstances.
We wish you a good and joyful Lent. It is, indeed, a time of joy and hope, since it is a question of occupying ourselves - finally! - with God.
In Christo sacerdote et Maria,
Fr. Yves le Roux