The spirit of the words of the prophet Joel, which were proclaimed on our opening day of Lent this past Wednesday, calls the community of believers and each individual person of faith to stand and be counted, to gather in hope, to search heart and soul, and to turn our attention once again to the Covenant - the promise given us by our loving God. The season of Lent is sometimes called "Great Lent", not because it is forty days long, but because it provides the opportunity to take stock, to come to grips with our reality, and most importantly to celebrate the great gift of God's love found in his promise to us. All too often Catholics are characterized as being guilt ridden, constantly aware of our sinfulness and failures, and wallowing in self pity. But the real character of the followers of Jesus is a confident assurance of mercy and forgiveness, unqualified love and amazing grace given to each of us freely and without reserve by the most loving God. So deep is that love and so all consuming is that embrace, that he sent his Son, Jesus, to give himself for us.
On this First Sunday of Lent, the Psalm response in Psalm 25 says: "Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant." Love and Truth are the hallmarks of the beginning of our Lenten journey. The words of Jesus at the beginning of his public ministry following upon the arrest of John the Baptizer echo in our hearts: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." Recall the words spoken to Noah in Genesis, a promise of renewed and restored life and the promise that death and destruction will not find its way into the Lord's dealing with us. They are reassuring words that lift our hearts to the Lord our God. They give us reason to use this Great Lent to celebrate well the death and resurrection of Christ, and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we belong to him.
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