FINDING ANSWERS
Former Senator
Atty. Joey Lina
“To experience Lent with love means caring for those who suffer or feel abandoned and fearful because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Pope Francis said in his Lenten message for 2021.
As we take time to deepen our Christian faith with our Holy Week reflections amid deep uncertainty about the future, the pontiff’s message is especially meaningful as he asks us to “renew our faith, draw from the ‘living water’ of hope, and receive with open hearts the love of God during this season of conversion.”
“Fasting, prayer and almsgiving, as preached by Jesus, enable and express our conversion. The path of poverty and self-denial (fasting), concern and loving care for the poor (almsgiving), and childlike dialogue with the Father (prayer) make it possible for us to live lives of sincere faith, living hope and effective charity,” Pope Francis explained.
“Every moment of our lives is a time for believing, hoping and loving. The call to experience Lent as a journey of conversion, prayer and sharing of our goods, helps us – as communities and as individuals – to revive the faith that comes from the living Christ, the hope inspired by the breath of the Holy Spirit and the love flowing from the merciful heart of the Father,” the pontiff said.
“In these times of trouble, when everything seems fragile and uncertain, it may appear challenging to speak of hope. Yet Lent is precisely the season of hope, when we turn back to God who patiently continues to care for His creation which we have often mistreated,” Pope Francis stressed.
I’ve always considered Lenten season as an opportune time for us to strengthen our commitment to the unending task of bringing about God’s kingdom in this world – despite all the evil and inequality that abound, and the destitution everywhere due to the raging pandemic.
Every time we pray to our heavenly Father – in the words Christ himself taught us in the Lord’s Prayer – we ask God: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven.” If true followers of Christ act on His basic teachings to perform corporal and spiritual acts of mercy to make the world a better place, that could bring forth His kingdom right here on earth.
The key to salvation indeed lies on the two greatest commandments – Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind; Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).
As I’ve often said in my previous columns, to love is to serve. Love without service is nothing. Loving and serving go hand in hand. Otherwise, love is meaningless. And the best way to serve is through the corporal works of mercy – to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, bury the dead.
And there are also the spiritual works of mercy – To admonish the sinner, instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, comfort the sorrowful, bear wrongs patiently, forgive all injuries, pray for the living and the dead.
To truly love God and our neighbor as ourselves, we need to utilize our time, talent, and treasure to serve others especially as we perform the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
Thus, in seeking God’s Kingdom, it is imperative to help those in need, especially the poor in our midst. And love, as Pope Francis said in his Lenten message, can go a long way in helping the needy.
“Love is a gift that gives meaning to our lives. It enables us to view those in need as members of our own family, as friends, brothers or sisters. A small amount, if given with love, never ends, but becomes a source of life and happiness. Such was the case with the jar of meal and jug of oil of the widow of Zarephath, who offered a cake of bread to the prophet Elijah; it was also the case with the loaves blessed, broken and given by Jesus to the disciples to distribute to the crowd. Such is the case too with our almsgiving, whether small or large, when offered with joy and simplicity,” Pope Francis explained.
Lent is also an opportune time to strive for reconciliation and forgiveness from God.
“Saint Paul urges us to place our hope in reconciliation,” Pope Francis said. “By receiving forgiveness in the sacrament that lies at the heart of our process of conversion, we in turn can spread forgiveness to others. Having received forgiveness ourselves, we can offer it through our willingness to enter into attentive dialogue with others and to give comfort to those experiencing sorrow and pain. God’s forgiveness, offered also through our words and actions, enables us to experience an Easter of fraternity.”
May this Lenten season enable us to experience God’s love and bring us closer to His Kingdom as we show our love for the poor who are hardest hit by the raging pandemic.
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