We have begun

     We have prepared ourselves - schedules made, Mardi Gras celebrated.  
     We have been signed - marked by his Sign with ashes, to remind ourselves of the nothingness of our lives without him.          We have been invited by the prophet Joel "to
return to the Lord with our whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning.  To rend our hearts, not our garments, and return to the Lord, our God."  
     We have been reminded by Joel that our God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.  
     Reassured by these prophetic words we venture forth into a journey of faith that leads us from sin and death to redemption and new life.  That journey takes us through the difficult task of facing our frailty and sinful condition ... to a sorrow for our sins … to a repentance of our actions against the Lord and his anointed ... to a humble placing of ourselves at the mercy of God and his forgiveness through the Church ... and to a redemption - a restoring of the dignity lost by sin but won again for us by the passion and the Cross of Jesus Christ.  Then, and only then, can we pass through the Three Sacred Days and celebrate the new life of Easter. 

     Pope Benedict XVI has said: "Each year, Lent … stimulates us to rediscover the mercy of God so that we, in turn, become more merciful toward our brothers and sisters."

     I have a sense that this Lent will be like no other in recent years.  Since last Easter the Church has been confronted by the sinful actions of a number of her priests and the failure of the Church in providing protection and a timely response to this scandal and the crisis regarding the abuse of the young within the Church.  Like Joel reminds us though, we must return to the Lord with our whole heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.  We must do that as individuals and as Church.
     We must repent of the sins of abuse, with a special expression of sorrow to the victims of this abuse who have suffered over the years.  We must seek justice for all of those involved, for those victimized by this terrible abuse of trust and power and those accused and given no way of defending themselves.
     And then comes the hard part - we must humbly place ourselves, the victims, the accused and the Church herself at the mercy of God.  Only then can healing begin to take place … only then can hurts be healed and justice brought forth … only then can we be made new as a Church redeemed by Christ and renewed in his loving embrace.
     This is the challenge of this Lent.  And I would venture to say that it will take more than forty days for peace to enter our hearts and minds.   But it is the necessary first steps in a transforming journey rooted in hope and love that will lead to new life.