As we embark on a new journey of faith, and renew our conviction to remain faithful to God, as we are about to enter into the season of Lent this Wednesday with the Ash Wednesday. Lent season, is a time of conversion, a time for Change, and a time to purify ourselves Let us all renew our conviction to love the Lord wholeheartedly once again, and with the resolve to love one another most generously, forgiving those who have hurt or pained us, and helping one another to grow ever stronger in faith, by living our own lives most worthily and by doing what God has taught and shown us all to do.
One very long the liturgical season of Lent is with us. Not very long ago, we were celebrating Christmas, then a short period of Ordinary Time and here we are today in Lent! Then after 40 days or so, we shall usher in the Easter period, Pentecost and on we go on our journey of Faith, why all these changes in time? Why could we not just settle down in one season throughout our journey of Faith?
These liturgical Seasons come with their correspondent graces and Implications! These seasons bring about changes. These seasons and changes are somehow disturbing the inner most desire of man to settle down. The older we become, the less enthusiast and willing are we to change. A change is supposed to introduce something New. One of the many ways of our resistance to changes is to make the OLD come in the form of New! Because anything New makes us suspicious! The more used we are to our environment, our way of doing, our point of view of life, the more comfortable we feel and the more we resist to change! In other words, these seasonal changes are sources of conflicts in our lives and since we do not want conflicts we turn down the seasonal graces that comes to us! For this reason, even if and when we say yes to these seasonal changes, in reality, our style of life, our old habits remain intact all round the cycles! If we desire changes, we desire it for others and not for ourselves! Lenten season, a time of conversion, a time of change. What does this mean to you personally and in your community? We all have seasons in our personal lives. Which season are you experiencing at the moment? Are you in rainy season, dry season, Lenten season or Easter season in your life?
It is only through prayer and regular dialogue with God, that we can acknowledge the various seasons of our lives. Keeping in touch with God, keeping in touch with ourselves would allow us to see God’s presence in the different seasons of our lives. Lent is a period of purification and enlightenment or illumination. To purify is the act of making pure, to purify is to cleanse. The season of lent is a time in our personal lives for new life to appear and for old frozen attitudes to disappear. It a time to clear the ground, to clear away rubbish. A time for sowing so that one day, the day of the Lord, there will be harvest. Lent, a time for penance and Charity renews in us our call to Holiness. We need to dedicate more time for prayer, a prayer that helps us to embrace the demand for conversion in preparation for Easter. Let us not miss this opportunity to listen to the voice of the Lord inviting us: “Return to me with whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning, Rend your hearts not your garments, and return to the Lord your God for he is gracious and merciful”( Joel 2:12-13)