Lent is the 40-day period that precedes the grand feast marking Lord Jesus Christ’s rising from the dead following His crucifixion. It is a historic period that leads believers into meditating Lord Jesus Christ's passion on the Cross, defeating death, and rising from the dead to give life to all those who walk in His steps.
Since the start of life on Earth, all people died except one person, namely Lord Jesus Christ. He beat death and rose from the dead to provide cogent evidence that He is not only the Prince of Peace, but rather the Prince of Eternal Life.
Lent is a time for a change of heart. Three disciplines, in particular, have proven to be effective in helping us renew our relationships during Lent, namely fasting as it sharpens our will and helps us evaluate things we might be attached to in an unhealthy way; almsgiving which is a service and charity as it opens our eyes to those in need; and prayer which deepens our relationship with God.
With people in several parts of the world suffering from natural disasters economic meltdowns, and wars that drive peoples into homelessness hunger, and desperate life, then observing Lenten fasting is a way to feel the problems afflicting humanity which can be manifested in giving aid to the needy, while recalling Lord Jesus Christ's rising from the dead to save humanity from all the disasters being experienced and to shove humans into the sphere of eternal life.
Lent is a period to scrutinize the peoples' ills and to seek the Almighty Lord's power to extricate humanity from its titanic miseries and to help them reach the shores of safety. It is important to have humanity strive during this Lenten season to find radical solutions that free them from the inferno that lies in the offing. It is a world drifting towards endless miseries which needs a proficient doctor who would provide the panacea to all these ills. It is the time to hold the hand of the Lord, the proficient doctor, Who provides the panacea at a time when humanity walks amidst the darkness that engulfs the world, as well as to listen to His divine words and feel His love and mercy.
With the advent of the Lenten season, it is important in the first place to pray for the entrenchment of peace in the world including arms race because once this goal is attained, then humanity can divert attention to heal the wounds of humanity including the crises emanating in the aftermath of the innumerable problems arising from the massive earthquakes that have struck Turkey and Syria as well other incipient problems that include climate change, unemployment, diseases, and famine among others.
Lord Jesus Christ: With the advent of Lenten season, we begin to realize anew that these are the days of salvation, these are the acceptable days. We know that we are all sinners. Help us Lord in our feeble attempts to make up for past sin. Bless our efforts with the rich blessing of Your grace. Make us realize ever more our need of penance and of mortification. Help us see, in our ordinary difficulties and duties, in the trials and temptations of every day, the best opportunity of making up for past infidelities. Every day we are so often reminded in field and wood, in sky and stream, of Your own boundless generosity to us. Help us to realize that You are never outdone in generosity, and that the least thing we do for You will be rewarded, full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and flowing over. Then we shall see, in our own souls, how the desert can blossom, and the dry and wasted land can bring forth the rich, useful fruit that was expected of it from the beginning. Amen.
