Lent 2004
By Most Rev. Carl F. Mengeling

Four years ago the entire Church celebrated Jubilee 2000 with renewed spiritual commitment and great expectation.

Our Holy Father, John Paul II began the Third Millennium with words of hope and encouragement. "At the beginning of the NEW MILLENNIUM, our hearts ring out with these words of Jesus."

After speaking to the crowds from Simon’s boat, he invited the Apostles "put out into the deep for a catch." Peter and his partners trusted Christ’s words and cast the nets. They caught a great number of fish.

"PUT OUT INTO THE DEEP!"

These words invite us to:

- remember the past with gratitude
- live the present with enthusiasm
- look forward with confidence.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." That was four years ago. The call, ‘Put out into the deep’ is as urgent as ever, especially because so much today is shallow and superficial. Yet, our entire being yearns for more, the depths that satisfy.

Each year, the Season of Lent is a true ‘wake-up call’ for each of us. It is an entente effort to move from the shallows to the depths of real Christian life.

At the start of this millennium, in Jubilee 2000, the U.S. Bishops published: "Penitential Practices for Today’s Catholics." These excerpts will help us in our Lenten program:

The season of LENT has traditionally been a time of prolonged penance for the Christian community. Together we prepare for the great Easter mysteries by committing ourselves to fulfill our baptismal call to maturity, holiness, service, and community. Our response to each call will demand sacrifice, mortification, asceticism, and denial of our own self-will. Mortification helps to "put to death" the cancer cells of sin; asceticism brings a discipline that makes us increasingly free and responsible. Again, this action and grace of the Holy Spirit are what enlighten, enkindle, and empower us to live more fully the way of discipleship.

Our American culture, which emphasizes having many possessions and an excessive self-preoccupation, has difficulty accepting the penitential practices of our Catholic tradition. Current philosophies would have us believe that we are here to be entertained and that we are born to be content. Jesus’ message is one of service: "For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mk 10:45). In this modern context, we fulfill our mission of evangelization by living the Gospel. Witnessing to gospel values helps to transform our culture. Our culture is in great need of justice and charity, virtues that cannot be achieved without grace and openness to conversion. There are always unconverted areas of minds and hearts; there are always factors in our social structures that need uprooting, repair, or restoration. All of us are called to participate in this evangelizing work of transforming our world.

During the Jubilee Year, our Holy Father called us to conversion, reconciliation, and solidarity. To continue to live that call, we might take the spiritual and corporal works of mercy as a penitential model. These fourteen practices demand great sacrifice and generosity; they also draw us more deeply into conformity with the Lord. Focusing on one of these works each week may be a practical way of integrating them into our personal, family, and parish lives.

Corporal Works of Mercy

• Feeding the hungry
• Sheltering the homeless
• Clothing the naked
• Visiting the sick
• Visiting the imprisoned
• Giving drink to the thirsty
• Burying the dead

Spiritual Works of Mercy

• Converting sinners
• Instructing the ignorant
• Advising the doubtful
• Comforting the sorrowful
• Bearing wrongs patiently
• Forgiving injuries
• Praying for the living and dead

Penitential practices express in visible signs and deeds the interior conversion of heart. Because we are called by Jesus to give our whole selves to the Father, conversion means a radical reorientation of our whole lives toward God’s kingdom. We turn away from evil, resolve not to sin, and trust in God’s amazing grace. There will be sadness for past wrongs but deep joy in the working of grace.

In the end, our life in Christ is about loving God with our whole heart, mind, and soul, and about sharing God’s love with others. Penitential practices are essential if we are to turn away from sin, believe in the Gospel, and share God’s love with one another.