Tower and Town, March 2017

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Clergy Letter: Lent

Lent can be understood as a season of divine therapy - a time to detoxify our souls, renew our energy and be refreshed in spirit. Lent is like a long ‘retreat’, during which we can turn into ourselves and listen to the voice of God in order to defeat the temptations of the Evil One. It is a period of spiritual ‘combat’, which we must experience alongside Jesus, not with pride and presumption, but using the arms of faith: prayer, listening to the Word of God and penance. In this way we will be able to celebrate Easter in truth, ready to let God's life renew us.

During Lent we are invited to fast, and deny ourselves; we receive the call to pray more and give to those who are in need (almsgiving). In these ways we give of ourselves, but it is also a season to receive. Saint Teresa of Calcutta said: “As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus’ thirst, listen to Jesus tell us ‘Repent and Believe’. What are we to repent of? Our indifference, our hardness of heart. What are we to believe? Jesus wants only our love, wants only the chance to love us”.

Lent then is a time of conversion, of change, of repentance, of turning back to God. The problem is that we often find it much easier to identify and point out how others may need to repent and change than to focus on ourselves and our own shortcomings. Self-knowledge is a gift of the Holy Spirit which we can ask the Lord to give us.

"Lord Jesus, during Lent may our hearts be drawn to You. Help us to recognize our need to return to You."

Remember Lent is not a loan but a Gift!

Fr John Blacker