Observe Lent like never before
“If, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life” (Romans 5:10)
In one way or another, recent tumultuous events in Hong Kong have cost many of us plenty of broken relationships, be it with oneself, with others, with our communities and even with God. Without doubt, these rifts need urgent mending. Incidentally, the diocesan them for Lent this year is reconciliation. “The blind man went and washed and came back able to see” (John 9:7) is the biblical verse selected to run through the five weeks of Lent leading to Easter. Hopefully all parishioners can find the weekly verses handy in their prayers and meditation during this period of the Liturgical Year.
The gospel reading of the First Sunday of Lent is the familiar account of the Temptation of Jesus. We all are susceptible to temptations in daily life. To our chagrin, a lot of times we are blinded by pleasure, wealth and power, and eventually succumb.
What can we do? Can we escape from this quagmire on our own? The answer is no. Only the grace of God can do that. “He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began” (2 Timothy 1:9).
The Father’s gift of grace is there for us, but we need to cooperate with him. We need to leave our comfort zones first in order to get the ball rolling. Abraham demonstrated his prompt response to God’s command: “Go forth from your land, your relatives, and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). So too the blind man’s response to Jesus’ command: “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” (John 9:7).
Baptism erases from us original sin. Yet, because of concupiscence, Jesus gives us the Sacrament of Penance. Hence, there is no reason that we cannot take advantage of this gift and visit the confessional more often, especially during Lent. The grace of God is is embodied in Jesus Christ: “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Jesus is the living water. The Sacrament of Eucharist allows the worthy ones to imbibe the living water promised by the Lord: “But whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Once we let Jesus enter our hearts, we embrace the true light, the same way the blind man “came back able to see.” “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” (Ephesians 5:8)
Lent can be seen as a getaway on our pilgrimage of faith and the scriptural verses proposed by the diocese focal points for meditation and reconciliation exercises. O Lord, grant us the grace to pray and sacrifice wholeheartedly but not nonchalantly, and to reconcile with our own selves, with others, with our communities and especially with you our Father, so that we may observe Lent this year like never before.
“If, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life” (Romans 5:10).
Lenten Campaign Organising Committee, 2020
