As spring begins the church once more enters into its Lenten journey, a journey rich in the challenge to conversion of heart, to deeds of justice and mercy, and to constancy in prayer. In this Jubilee Year the Lenten season holds out to the faithful an invitation to enter into a time of re-focusing and re-creating.

The Year of Jubilee was symbolic of the restoration of relationships among persons, with the land itself and with God. The Scriptures tell us that “we belong to Christ.” We have been united to him through our baptismal consecration. Lent invites us to remember whose we are. It is an invitation to claim our identity in Christ and live our lives in the light of that reality.

The Lectionary readings for Lent provide rich food for reflection. In the first reading of Ash Wednesday we are told to “Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God.” It is an invitation to depth conversion, not simply external gestures. There are few among us who cannot remember when Lent meant giving up candy or some favorite pastime. While good, these actions were not always tied to the sense of internal change. For some of us, it was penance in and for itself and when Easter arrived we devoured as much chocolate as we could. We grew in devotion but we didn’t really understand that our penance was to lead to inner change.

The Lenten practice that is asked of us is one which is transformative and sustaining. It is the stripping away of all that leads us away from Gospel discipleship, of all that alienates us from our brothers and sisters, of all that is not of God. It is a pattern of emptying to be made full. Like the blind man of the Gospels, we seek to see more clearly. Like the Samaritan woman, we long for the drink that satisfies. Like the paralytic, we ask to be healed and empowered to act for justice.

The second reading of Ash Wednesday reminds us that “We are ambassadors for Christ, God as it were appealing through us. We implore you, in Christ’s name: be reconciled to God.” If we are to respond to this call, then we must strive to create right relationships among us. Right relationships begin in our families, spiral out to include our parish families and civic communities and spiral further to enfold all members of the human family.

This is no easy task in today’s world. It demands that we respect and embrace with Christian charity those with whom we disagee as well as those who have caused harm to us. The specter of violence in Kosovo, the possible failure of the peace process in Northern Ireland, justification for negative campaigning in the political process, and acts of hatred toward persons because of their race, religion or social status all find their seed in the hearts of those who refuse to grant another forgiveness. The Scriptures challenge us to claim our responsibility for contributing to the climate of disunity. Lent provides the context for seriously addressing that challenge in our day to day experience. It is not something that we put off until it is convenient, for the Lenten Scriptures tell us: “Now is the acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation!”

In the early church the Lenten season developed out of the companioning of those who were seeking baptism. The catechumens entered into an intense time of preparation and the whole community joined with them and supported them through their prayer, fasting and deeds of mercy. This is true today as well. The elect who prepare for their baptisms at the Easter vigil do not journey alone; they journey with the church. It is a renewal time when we remember once again that God is to be the center of our lives. We remember that to be a disciple of Jesus means giving oneself over to participation in the sufferings and joys of Christ Jesus. It is a choice that we make and re-make each day.

The church has chosen to focus on the call to act for justice in the early readings of Lent. From Isaiah we are reminded that “This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly; untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry; sheltering the oppressed and the homeless.” It paints a picture of active engagement in bringing about a society and climate in which every person can live with dignity and justice.

Matthew 25, the story of the last judgment, puts this responsibility in sharp focus. “I assure you, as often as you did it for one of my least brothers, you did it for me.” It is Christ who we encounter in the persons of those who are economically poor, oppressed and outcast. It is Christ who we house, feed and greet. It is also Christ who we ignore, reject or discriminate against. The grace and blessing that we ask of God in the Lenten season is to see with new eyes what has always been there. It is the insight and wisdom to recognize Christ among us, and in recognizing his presence respond with the gift of our hearts. Leviticus tells us on the first Monday of Lent that we are to take no revenge, show no partiality, hold no grudge, but the Gospel of the day takes it farther— “you did it for me.”

Sustaining acts of justice takes courage and faithfulness. Seeing takes wisdom and understanding. Perhaps that is why the church selected at least three separate readings on prayer to be included among the initial readings of the Lenten season. It is in our prayer that we are opened up to receive the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit not only draws us deeply into the life of Christ Jesus but also teaches us both how to pray and for what to pray. We are taught that our prayer must be bold and rooted in our trust that God is a God of providential care and compassion.

The convergence of prayer, acts of justice and mercy, and fasting create the Lenten journey. The disciplines of the season create in us a spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness which are prerequisites to being one in mind and heart. This is not something that we can do on our own. It is something that God brings about within us. It is blessed with the promise of God found in Isaiah: “...the Lord will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails.”

Mercy Sister Katherine Doyle is a member of the Auburn regional leadership team.

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