Lent offers us Catholics a special opportunity to deepen our relationship with Christ and the Church through its sacraments.

Many of us will attend retreats and participate in the Way of the Cross and other devotions and liturgies that will change the routine of our ordinary lives. This is important, but Lent is more than a time of personal repentance and renewal. It is a season of grace for the Church, society and the world.

Lent began as a time of intense preparation for those persons who were preparing to enter the Church at Easter. Those on the way to becoming full members of the Church prepared for their encounter with Jesus by listening to particular Gospel passages and spending the 40 days prior to Easter in imitation of Jesus, who spent 40 days in the wilderness, in prayer and fasting.  In time, it became clear that this period of repentance and conversion could be of benefit to all members of the Church.

Lent, however, is of value not only to the Church. As a special sign or sacrament in the world, the Church invites all along the path of repentance and reconciliation.

We live in a world that has paid little attention to warnings about global warming, the consequent climate change and its disastrous effect on the environment, especially in the poorer regions of the world. We turn our focus easily from the many who continue to die of poverty.

Reports that millions are being driven from their homeland meet with inaction by those who have the power to make their existence more secure. Many in our society continue to suffer because of corrupt practices.

The high rate of crime in our land suggests a number of obvious and hidden failings at the foundation of our society. The world needs Lent.

Unsurpassing love of God

Lent offers us an opportunity to examine the relationship we have with our neighbour and with God. It is a time for us to take stock of our responsibilities. The season calls for sensitivity to sin and conversion, which has a personal as well as a social dimension.

In his 2007 message for Lent, Pope Benedict XVI calls the Church to consider the passionate and unsurpassing love of God who desires to be one with each of his creatures. It is a love revealed in the crucified Christ. It is that love which enables the Church to give itself to the transformation of the world and the building of the kingdom of God.

Says the Pope: “The response the Lord ardently desires of us is above all that we welcome his love and allow ourselves to be drawn to him. Accepting his love, however, is not enough. We need to respond to such love and devote ourselves to communicating it to others.”

A greater sensitivity to sin and conversion and a realisation of the abundant and all-encompassing nature of God’s love are the key features of this season through which the Church seeks to lead its members and the rest of society.

Lent offers us all an opportunity to respond to God’s call to holiness. This Sunday’s Gospel assures us of the help we have in Christ, who desires to enrich us all by drawing us to share in the union he has with the Father.