{"id":25346,"date":"2010-02-19T13:55:33","date_gmt":"2010-02-19T17:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2010\/02\/lent-lengthens-our-horizon-it\/"},"modified":"2010-02-19T13:55:33","modified_gmt":"2010-02-19T17:55:33","slug":"lent-lengthens-our-horizon-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2010\/02\/lent-lengthens-our-horizon-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Lent lengthens our horizon, it orients us to eternal life, Pope tells us"},"content":{"rendered":"

I present to you most of the Pope’s homily for Ash Wednesday. Emphasis added to draw attention to some excellent ideas or turns of phrase.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

\"Ash<\/a><\/p>\n

With this moving invocation, taken from the Book of
\nWisdom (cf 11:23-26), the liturgy introduces the Eucharistic celebration of Ash
\nWednesday. They are words that, in some way, open the whole Lenten journey,
\nplacing as their foundation the omnipotence of the love of God, his absolute
\nlordship over every creature, which is translated in infinite indulgence,
\nanimated by a constant and universal will to live<\/span>. In fact, to forgive someone<\/span>
\nis equivalent to saying: I do not want you to die, but that you live; I always
\nand only want your good<\/b>.<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
This absolute certainty sustained Jesus during the 40
\ndays transpired in the desert of Judea, after the baptism received from John in
\nthe Jordan. This long time of silence<\/span> and fasting was for him a complete
\nabandonment<\/span> to the Father and to his plan of love; it was a
\n“baptism,” that is, an “immersion” in his will, and in this
\nsense, an anticipation of the Passion and the Cross. To go into the desert and
\nto stay there a long time, alone, meant to be willingly exposed to the assaults
\nof the enemy, the tempter who made Adam fall and through whose envy death
\nentered the world (cf Wisdom 2:24); it meant engaging in open battle with him<\/span>,
\ndefying him with no other weapons than limitless confidence in the omnipotent
\nlove of the Father. Your love suffices me, my food is to do your will (cf John
\n4:34): This conviction dwelt in the mind and heart of Jesus during that
\n“Lent” of his. It was not an act of pride, a titanic enterprise, but
\na decision of humility<\/span>, consistent with the Incarnation and the Baptism in the
\nJordan, in the same line of obedience to the merciful love of the Father, who
\n“so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16).<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
The Lord
\ndid all this for us. He did it to save us and, at the same time, to show us the
\nway to follow him. Salvation, in fact, is a gift, it is God’s grace, but to
\nhave effect in my existence it requires my consent, an acceptance demonstrated
\nin deeds, that is, in the will to live like Jesus, to walk after him. To follow
\nJesus in the Lenten desert is, hence, the condition necessary to participate in
\nhis Easter, in his “exodus.<\/b>” Adam was expelled from the earthly
\nParadise, symbol of communion with God; now, to return to that communion and,
\ntherefore, to true life, it is necessary to traverse the desert, the test of
\nfaith. Not alone, but with Jesus! He — as always — has preceded us and has
\nalready conquered in the battle against the spirit of evil<\/b>. This is the meaning
\nof Lent<\/span>, liturgical time that every year invites us to renew the choice to follow
\nChrist on the path of humility to participate in his victory over sin and
\ndeath.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
Understood in this perspective also is the penitential sign of the
\nashes, which are imposed on the head of those who begin with good will the
\nLenten journey. It is essentially a gesture of humility, which means: I
\nrecognize myself for what I am, a frail creature, made of earth and destined to
\nthe earth, but also made in the image of God and destined to him<\/span>. Dust, yes,
\nbut loved, molded by love<\/i><\/b>, animated by his vital breath, capable of recognizing
\nhis voice and of responding to him; free and, because of this, also capable of
\ndisobeying him, yielding to the temptation of pride and self-sufficiency<\/i>. This
\nis sin, the mortal sickness that soon entered to contaminate the blessed earth
\nthat is the human being<\/i>. Created in the image of the Holy and Righteous One,
\nman lost his own innocence and he can now return to be righteous only thanks to
\nthe righteousness of God, the righteousness of love that — as St. Paul writes
\n—  was manifested “through faith in Jesus Christ” (Romans
\n3:22). From these words of the Apostle I took my inspiration for my Message,
\naddressed to all the faithful on the occasion of this Lent: a reflection on the
\ntheme of righteousness in the light of the Sacred Scriptures and of its
\nfulfillment in Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
Also very present in the biblical readings of Ash
\nWednesday is the theme of righteousness. First of all, the page of the prophet
\nJoel and the Responsorial Psalm — the Miserere — form a penitential diptych,
\nwhich manifests how at the origin of all material and social injustice is what
\nthe Bible calls “iniquity,” that is, sin, which consists essentially
\nin a disobedience to God, namely, a lack of love. “For I know my
\ntransgressions, \/ and my sin is ever before me. \/ Against thee, thee only, have
\nI sinned, \/ and done that which is evil in thy sight” (Psalm 51 (50):
\n3-4). The first act of righteousness, therefore, is to recognize one’s own
\niniquity, it is to recognize that it is rooted in the “heart,” in the
\nvery center of the human person<\/b>. “Fasting,” “weeping”,
\n“mourning” (cf. Joel 2:12) and every penitential expression has value
\nin the eyes of God only if<\/span><\/b> it is the sign of truly repentant hearts. Also the
\nGospel, taken from the “Sermon on the Mount,” insists on the need to
\npractice proper “righteousness” — almsgiving, prayer and fasting —
\nnot before men but only in the eyes of God, who “sees in secret” (cf
\nMatthew 6:1-6.16-18). The true “recompense” is not others’
\nadmiration, but friendship with God and the grace that derives from it, a grace
\nthat gives strength to do good, to love also the one who does not deserve it,
\nto forgive those who have offended us.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
[…]<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
Dear brothers
\nand sisters, Lent lengthens our horizon, it orients us to eternal life<\/b>. On this
\nearth we are on pilgrimage, “[f]or here we have no lasting city, but we
\nseek the city which is to come,” says the Letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews
\n13:14). Lent makes us understand the relativity of the goods of this earth and
\nthus makes us capable of the necessary self-denials, free to do good<\/span>. Let us
\nopen the earth to the light of heaven, to the presence of God in our midst.
\nAmen.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I present to you most of the Pope’s homily for Ash Wednesday. Emphasis added to draw attention to some excellent ideas or turns of phrase. With this moving invocation, taken from the Book of Wisdom (cf 11:23-26), the liturgy introduces the Eucharistic celebration of Ash Wednesday. They are words that, in some way, open the … Continue reading Lent lengthens our horizon, it orients us to eternal life, Pope tells us<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[1953],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25346"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25346\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}