Message of the Pope for Lent: Repent to regenerate us with forgiveness

The Wednesday, March 6th is Ash Wednesday and Lent begins, season centered on fasting, prayer and almsgiving. As in previous years, Pope Francis has prepared a message that will help Christians make better use of these dates of spiritual exercises.

"In this world, the harmony generated by redemption is threatened, today and always, by the negative force of sin and death," warns the Pontiff. "As we know," he continues. "the cause of all evil is sin, which from its appearance among men has interrupted communion with God, with others and with creation, to whom we are bound above all by our body ".

"The way of Easter calls us precisely to restore our face and our hearts as Christians, by repentance, conversion and forgiveness, in order to be able to live all the richness of the grace of the paschal mystery", adds the Pontiff.

"Lent is a sacramental sign of this conversion, it is a call to Christians to embody more intensely and more concretely the paschal mystery in their personal, family and social life, including fasting, prayer and prayer. l & # 39; alms ".

"Let's go to the Pbadover of Jesus; Let's get close to our brothers and sisters who have difficulties, sharing our badets with them spiritual and material. Thus, welcoming Christ's victory over sin and death into the concrete of our lives, we will also draw his transformative force on creation, "concludes his text.

Complete text of Pope Francis' message:

"The creation, in expectation, awaits the manifestation of the children of God"

Message of Pope Francis for Lent 2019

Every year, through the Mother Church, God "gives his children the yearning, with the joy of having purified themselves, of the solemnity of Easter, so that […] for the celebration of the mysteries that have given us new life, we can become fully children of God "(Preface I of Lent). In this way, we can walk from Easter to Easter towards the salvation that we have already received thanks to the paschal mystery of Christ: "For we have been saved in hope" (Rm 8,24).

This mystery of salvation, which already exists in us during the earthly life, is a dynamic process that also includes history and all creation. St. Paul continues: "The creation, while waiting, awaits the manifestation of the sons of God" (Rom 8:19). In this perspective, I would like to suggest some points of reflection that accompany our journey of conversion in the next Lent.

1. The redemption of creation

The celebration of the paschal triduum of the pbadion, death and resurrection of Christ, the culmination of the liturgical year, calls us more and more to live an itinerary of preparation, aware that being in conformity with Christ (cf. Rom 8:29) is an inestimable gift of God's mercy.

If a man lives as a child of God, lives as a redeemed, lets himself be led by the Holy Spirit (see Rom 8:14) and knows how to recognize and put into practice the law of God, starting with the one that is inscribed in his heart and in nature, he also benefits creation by cooperating with his redemption.

Therefore, the creation, says Saint Paul, longs for the children of God to be manifested, that is to say that those who enjoy the grace of the paschal mystery of Jesus fully enjoy its fruits, intended to reach their full maturity in the redemption of God. same human body. When the love of Christ transfigures the lives of the saints – spirit, soul and body – they praise God and, through prayer, contemplation and art, they also share the creatures, as shown by the "wonderful ". Song of Brother Sun "of Saint Francis of Assisi (see Enc. Laudato if & # 39 ;, 87) .However, in this world, the harmony generated by redemption is threatened, today and always, by the negative force of sin and death.

2. The destructive force of sin

Indeed, when we do not live as children of God, we often have destructive behaviors towards our neighbor and other creatures – and also towards ourselves -, considering more or less consciously that we can use them as we please.

Then, the prevailing domination and that leads to a way of life that violates the limits that our human condition and our nature ask us to respect and to follow the uncontrolled desires which, in the book of the Wisdom, are attributed to the I & # 39; impious, to those who do not have God as a point of reference for their actions, nor as a hope for the future (2: 1-11). If we do not aspire continually at Easter, if we do not live on the horizon of the resurrection, it is clear that the logic of everything and already, more and more, ends up imposing itself. .

As we know, the cause of all evil is the sin that, since its appearance among men, has interrupted communion with God, with others, and with creation, to which we are bound above all by our body.

The fact that communion with God has been broken has also damaged the harmonious relationship of human beings with the environment in which they are called to live, so that the garden has been transformed into a desert (cf. -18). It is the sin that leads man to consider himself the god of creation, to feel his absolute owner and not to use it for the purposes desired by the Creator, but for his own sake. interest, to the detriment of creatures and others.

When the law of God, the law of love, is abandoned, the law of the strong prevails over the weakest triumphs. The sin which nests in the heart of man (cf Mk 7, 20-23) – and which is manifested by greed, the thirst for excessive well-being, disinterest for the good of 39, others and often also for one's own – leads to the exploitation of creation, people and the environment, according to the insatiable greed that considers any desire as a right and that will eventually destroy even those who live under his control.

3. The regenerating power of repentance and forgiveness

For this reason, creation has the unstoppable need of the children of God to manifest themselves, those who have become a "new creation": "If any one is in Christ, he is a new creature." the new has begun "(2Co 5,17), for in manifesting itself, the creation can also" celebrate the Pbadover ": open to the new heavens and to the new earth (see Rev 21,1).

And the way of Easter calls us precisely to restore our face and our hearts as Christians, by repentance, conversion and forgiveness, in order to live all the richness of the grace of the paschal mystery.

This "impatience", this expectation of creation will find fulfillment when the children of God will manifest themselves, that is to say when Christians and all men undertake with determination the "work" that conversion involves. All creation is called to leave with us "from the bondage of corruption to enter into the glorious freedom of the children of God" (Rm 8,21).

Lent is a sacramental sign of this conversion, it invites Christians to embody more intensely and more concretely the paschal mystery in their personal, family and social life, including fasting, prayer and almsgiving.

Fasting is learning to change our attitude towards others and with creatures: from the temptation to "devour" everything, to satisfy our greed, to the ability to suffer for love, which can fill the emptiness of our heart.

Pray to know how to renounce idolatry and the self-sufficiency of our self and claim to need the Lord and his mercy.

Give alms to get out of the madness of life and accumulate everything for ourselves, convinced that we are thus securing a future that does not belong to us. And to rediscover the joy of the project that God has put into creation and in our heart, that is, to love, to love our brothers and the whole world, and to find in this love true happiness.

Dear brothers and sisters, the "Lent" of the Son of God was to enter the desert of creation to make it a garden of communion with God that was before original sin (see Mk 1: 12-13). Is 51.3).

May our Lent badume that he is taking this same path, to bring also the hope of Christ to creation, that he "be freed from the bondage of corruption to enter the glorious freedom of children of God "(Rom 8,21). Do not let this favorable time pbad in vain. Let us ask God to help us to embark on the path of true conversion.

Abandon selfishness, gaze upon ourselves and turn to the Pbadover of Jesus. Let us be close to our brothers and sisters who are going through difficulties, sharing with them our spiritual and material goods. Thus, by welcoming Christ's victory over sin and death into the concrete life of our lives, we will also bring his transformative force to creation.