Bishop Solis’ Lenten Message

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Greetings of Christ’s peace and love!

The Lenten season this year begins on Ash Wednesday (March 5) and concludes on Holy Thursday (April 17). The 40 days of Lent represent the time Jesus spent in the wilderness praying, fasting and overcoming the temptations from the devil. The Church invites us to reflect and pray to deepen our faith and change our hearts in preparation for the celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection on Easter.

The celebration of Lent during this Jubilee Year helps us to renew our hope in the infinite love and mercy of God. With all the difficulties and uncertainties in the world today, it is easy to get distracted and lose our focus on God. Pope Francis, in his Bull of Indiction for the Holy Year Spes Non Confundit, – “Hope Does Not Disappoint,” reminds us that “amid sufferings we see all around us, hope is born of love and based on the love springing from the pierced heart of Jesus upon the cross.”

These words from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans shine a light on the path we are called to follow. Our Holy Father exhorts us that every effort should be made to enable the people of God to participate fully in its proclamation of hope in God’s grace. So, it is in the spirit of hope that we undertake our Lenten disciplines, not to punish ourselves but to prepare our hearts to celebrate in hope of God’s gift of salvation in the death and resurrection of Christ.

The pillars of Lent help us focus more attention on God: increase in prayer means more opportunities for communion with our Lord; abstinence and fasting strengthen and free us from material pleasures or other material enslavements, allowing us to make room for Christ in our heart; and charity or good works turns our attention away from ourselves to God and others, especially those in need. St. Peter in his first letter said, “charity covers a multitude of sins,” and added that “we should use our gifts to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”

During the Lenten season, let us respond to the call of Pope Francis to be pilgrims of hope. With all the difficulties we face in the world today, our hope in Christ can shine a light on the path we are called to follow. Filled with hope, let us embark on our spiritual journey of repentance and metanoia – of turning our hearts to God – toward the darkness of Good Friday, into the light and joy of Easter that the Resurrection of Christ brings.