My Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

Throughout the holy season of Lent during this Jubilee Year as we serve as pilgrims of hope, we are called time and time again, through the prophets, through the words of Jesus and the ministry of the apostles, to return to God with our whole heart. We receive, as the Prophet Joel extols, the divine attributes of God: He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. Yet, it is the things of the earth, not seen through the eyes of God, which attract us and in which we divide ourselves and pursue other kingdoms, not the Kingdom of God.

Earth is sacred as God creates it. We are the ones who deface it and mar its beauty. The people with whom we encounter are hallowed as they are God’s creation. God made each one in His image. Do you see the people before you as God’s creation? Do you hold them in prayer and love them as best as possible? Do you live as God’s steadfast, holy dwelling for your family, friends, co-workers, or others? Are your thoughts, words and deeds born out of an interior conversion to know, love and serve God?

There are many ways to offer ourselves as pilgrims of hope in the Lord this Lenten season! When you walk down the street and see people, smile God’s love to them. Embrace a family member who is struggling with an illness by being present to that person in conversation and visitation. Write a note of love to your children and slip it in their lunch box or under their pillow. Receive Jesus the Eucharist and offer Him to those in need by donating food and diapers to Catholic Charities or your parish foodbank.

Pray with and for one another! The call to repentance is also a call to worship. The prophet Joel exhorts the entire community to gather and pray, no matter the age or marital status, or vocation. How beautiful is the Body of Christ as we bind heaven to earth by our prayer! What are the obstacles keeping you from prayer, from joining in the celebration of Mass? You are necessary to our journey. Come, let us worship and adore.

We continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis. His devotion to God is ever present as he leads God’s people to return to God. He encourages the faithful during Lent to make time for silent adoration, for time to hear the voice of the Lord in our lives, and to not be afraid “to strip ourselves of worldly trappings and to return to the heart, to what is essential.” Pope Francis said, “Let us acknowledge what we are: dust loved by God – and that, thanks to Him, we will be reborn from the ashes of sin to new life in Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit.” Our whole life should reflect God from the moment of our rising to the time of our rest.

Age to age, God is forever pursuing us. His desire for us is the core of His being. During our Lenten season, let us ask how we are pursuing God. Let us find a way to keep Him as the heart of our being. Pope Francis recalled, “the door of God’s heart is always open; let us return to him. Let us return to the heart that loves us and forgives us.” Then, and only then, can we truly live as pilgrims of hope to abound the heavens through the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.