Even now says the Lord, “Return to me with your whole heart”. The Good News is our God still wants us back. Like the Father of the Prodigal Son, God is anxious for us to return to Him. It is a homecoming. Blow the trumpet in Zion! Proclaim a fast! Gather the people.
Lent is such a special time in our year. It is a time of new beginnings, of reviewing our lives in the light of the Gospel, to deepen our conversion and to draw closer to God and to one another.
The ashes on our forehead, which mark the start of Lent, are to remind us that we are pilgrims in this world. One day death will end that pilgrimage and we will have to render an account of our stewardship. How did we use our talents, our treasure, our time? Did we make this a better world by our love and generosity? If we have been living selfish and self-absorbed lives, Lent is an opportunity to clean up our obituary, to change the direction of our life. Change is never easy. We need a lot of help and we need a plan. Lent first of all, must be a renewal in the life of prayer. There can be no growth in faith and holiness without prayer. Each day we need time and space for God.
Hence, our first Lenten resolution should be about our prayer life. Daily reading from the Gospels and the Scriptures can be a very important way to deepen our prayer life, to find direction and encouragement in the Word of God. Jesus wants us to know His voice and to ponder His words in our heart.
This Lent our parish is in the midst of an initiative rooted in prayer - to invite people who have stepped away to reconnect with the Life of the Church. We all need to realize that the Church exists to evangelize, to make disciples of all nations. It is our responsibility to reach out and encourage those around us to be members of Christ’s family, the Church.
The second reading for Ash Wednesday is from St. Paul who writes: “We are ambassadors for Christ as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on their behalf. It is my hope that our Welcome Home Weekend on April 2& 3 will encourage all of us to be ambassadors for Christ, inviting our friends, acquaintances and even strangers to be followers of Christ. It is important that an ambassador present well. Often they are housed in magnificent residences and fulfill a special role in making their presidents or rulers present in the new country. Being an ambassador for Christ does not require a fancy residence or clothes, but that we express the Lord’s concern to gather us into God’s family.
In the past, we have often asked our Catholics to practice the corporal works of mercy…to feed the hungry, provide clothes and shelter, visit the sick and prisoners. But we sometimes forget that these are also spiritual works of mercy; to instruct the uninformed, counsel the doubtful, admonish sinners, bear wrongs patiently, forgive offenses willingly, comfort the afflicted and to pray for the living and the dead.
I consider our Welcome Back Weekend as a Spiritual Work of Mercy. It expresses our concern about people’s interior life, their relationship with God, their spiritual hunger. We want people to know Christ and His love, because we believe that in Christ we find the answers to life questions and come to eternal happiness.
The Church exists to evangelize and this Holy Season of Lent is a special time of opportunity. And so as the Prophet tells us, “Sound the trumpet, proclaim a fast, gather the people and invite the Family to come home”.