Happy Lent!

On this Ash Wednesday, the Confraternity of Penitents wishes you Happy Lent!

We share with you a few thoughts expressed today by Father David Engo of the Franciscan Friars Minor, good thoughts to keep in mind during this joyful (yes, joyful) season of Lent.

Why should penance be joyful? Because, while we do penance to make reparation for our sins and those of others, we also do it to show that ourselves that God has first place in our lives. Penance needs to be done in love. It isn’t enough to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must love God more than we love ourselves. Penance shows that we love God more than we love anything else. And why do we love God? Because God loved us so much that He created us and then died for us when we turned from Him. One immortal soul is worth more to God than all the things of this world. And that includes YOUR soul, too, dear reader.

In Lent, we focus on avoiding sin and attachments to the things of this world. But we also need to focus on love-- love of God, love of neighbor, love of myself for God made me and God does not make junk. Our penances need to be rooted in love or else they will be rooted in pride. Jesus told us to keep our penances private so that we can’t become proud of them.

Even Satan can do penance, St. Francis said, but Satan cannot love.

May all your penances, whatever they may be, be rooted in love this Lent.

Happy Lent!

Learn about the symbols of Lent and their meanings by daily checking the home page of the Confraternity of Penitents at www.penitents.org in the bottom right hand corner under “Daily Thought.” May these reflections bless you!

Why Lent?

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live
(Deuteronomy 30:19)

Lent is a time for us to reassess the decisions we have made and to reorient our life’s journey. Are we running on the path of the Lord’s commandments? Choices have consequences. Moses begins the passage in Deuteronomy with a stark and dramatic choice – a fork in the road in which one path leads to life and prosperity, the other to death and gloom – but the reality of making that choice is more subtle. Choosing the good path means doing things every day that may seem ordinary: obeying, loving, walking, and keeping. Yet these ordinary practices lead to living, growing, and even occupying a place of blessing and security. Certainly most people are familiar with Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken


I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.


If we take the road to life, we will discover the value of love and the joy of being loved. Responding to the call of faith we shall, in fact, be following the road less traveled by. Even though there may be pitfalls along the way, we will know the peace and joy of the Lord. With that peace comes a sense of humor and a joyful spirit. Suddenly we discover that ordinary day to day virtues become the seedbed of gospel living. Today’s gospel reading reminds us that following Christ demands a daily dying to self and embracing the Word of Life. May God prompt our actions by the inspiration of His Spirit, further them with His constant help and bring them to completion in His heavenly Kingdom.

Father Jerome Machar OSCO

God's Love Knows No Bounds

In the face of violence and terrorism, Lent reminds us that God loves everything and everyone He has created. In the face of hatred and prejudice, Lent reminds us that God is Love and because He cannot deny His own nature, He loves even those who do not love Him. In the face of a culture of death, Lent reminds us that God know that we are dust, but as creatures that He loves, we bear a treasure in earthen vessels. In the face of a society that is becoming more and more isolated, Lent reminds us that God made us to live in relationship with Him and with one another.

The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God speaks a word of comfort to the heart of each of His creatures. In that word is found a gracious offer of pardon and peace. Unlike His creatures, God is rich in mercy. No matter how mired we are in sin, God seeks us out and calls us to repent and return to His loving embrace. God so loved the world that He sent His only-begotten Son to save all who are willing to accept Him. Salvation is on God’s terms and not ours. For this reason, He has a claim on our obedience and allegiance.

The mercy of God is everlasting and His love is without measure and His Word is Truth. In love He speaks the truth to our hearts and He expects us to respond in truth. We can respond to the call of mercy because God has first sought us and the Holy Spirit is at work, ready to transform us, provided we allow Him. This transformation is total. It requires a change of mind and heart whereby we seek to conform ourselves to the mind and love of God. To repent is to return to the Lord from Whom we have wandered.

The word that proceeds for the mouth of God is living and life-giving. The letter to the Hebrews enlarges upon Isaiah’s theme: “Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). God’s Word produces a spiritual change in the mind of men, which neither rain nor snow can make on the earth. It shall not return to the Lord without producing important effects. Gospel grace can and will transform us and bring about newness of life in Christ. Provided we truly repent of our sins, we will be delivered from the wrath to come and come to live in peace with one another and with ourselves. Because we have come to know the mercy of God Who sought us while we were mired in sin and guilt, we can show compassion to others who are enslaved to sin.

God offers His People forgiveness and peace. Like those who have gone before us, we have to leave the land of our slavery. Freedom from guilt and shame comes when we choose to abandon the fleshpots of Egypt and journey towards the Land flowing with milk and honey. The Word of God can soften our sin-hardened hearts only if we are willing to immerse ourselves in it. The Word of God is effective and active only if we allow it to take root in our souls. During the forty days of Lent may the Lord make our hearts like His, firm and merciful, attentive and generous. Having pondered the word, may we be joyous heralds of mercy and hope.

Father Jerome Machar OSCO