{"id":5368,"date":"2020-03-02T12:00:30","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T12:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/combonimission.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=5368"},"modified":"2020-02-27T14:42:43","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T14:42:43","slug":"popes-message-for-lent-2020-the-experience-of-mercy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/03\/02\/popes-message-for-lent-2020-the-experience-of-mercy\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope\u2019s Message for Lent 2020: \u201cThe experience of mercy\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

During this season of Lent, Pope Francis invites the faithful to fix their eyes on the crucified Lord, and allow ourselves “to be saved over and over again.”<\/em><\/p>\n

In his message for Lent, Pope Francis writes: \u201cPutting the paschal mystery at the centre of our lives means feeling compassion towards the wounds of the crucified Christ present in the many innocent victims of wars, in attacks on life, from that of the unborn to that of the elderly, and various forms of violence. They are likewise present in environmental disasters, the unequal distribution of the earth\u2019s goods, human trafficking in all its forms, and the unbridled thirst for profit, which is a form of idolatry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToday too \u2013 Francis says \u2013\u00a0 there is a need to appeal to men and women of good will to share, by almsgiving, their goods with those most in need, as a means of personally participating in the building of a better world.\u201d \u201cCharitable giving makes us more human, whereas hoarding risks making us less human, imprisoned by our own selfishness.\u201d The Pope\u2019s invitation for Lent 2020 is that \u201cwe can and must go even further, and consider the structural aspects of our economic life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor this reason \u2013 for Lent 2000 \u2013 from 26 to 28 March I have convened a meeting in Assisi with young economists, entrepreneurs and change-makers, with the aim of shaping a more just and inclusive economy. As the Church\u2019s magisterium has often repeated, political life represents an eminent form of charity,\u201d the Pope declares quoting from Pius XI.\u00a0 \u201cThe same holds true for economic life, which can be approached in the same evangelical spirit, the spirit of the Beatitudes.\u201d<\/p>\n

If we listen to the tempting voice of the \u201cfather of lies we risk sinking into the abyss of absurdity,\u201d and \u201cexperiencing hell here on earth,\u201d exhorts the Pope: whoever believes the message of the Pascal mystery \u201crejects the lie that our life is ours to do with as we will. Rather, life is born of the love of God our Father, from his desire to grant us life in abundance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we listen instead to the tempting voice of the \u2018father of lies\u2019 we risk sinking into the abyss of absurdity, and experiencing hell here on earth, as all too many tragic events in the personal and collective human experience sadly bear witness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMay we not let this time of grace pass in vain, in the foolish illusion that we can control the times and means of our conversion to him,\u201d is the Pope\u2019s appeal with regard to \u201cconversion\u201d, the key word of Lent. \u201cThe experience of mercy is only possible in a \u2018face to face\u2019 relationship with the crucified and risen Lord \u2018who loved me and gave himself for me\u2019 in a heartfelt dialogue between friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is why prayer is so important in Lent: \u201ceven more than a duty, prayer is an expression of our need to respond to God\u2019s love which always precedes and sustains us. Christians pray in the knowledge that, although unworthy, we are still loved. Prayer can take any number of different forms, but what truly matters in God\u2019s eyes is that it penetrates deep within us and chips away at our hardness of heart, in order to convert us ever more fully to God and to his will.\u201d Francis\u2019 hope for Lent is that \u201cin this favourable season then, may we allow ourselves to be led like Israel into the desert. The more fully we are engaged with his word, the more we will experience the mercy he freely gives us. May we not let this time of grace pass in vain, in the foolish illusion that we can control the times and means of our conversion to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pope concludes his message with a prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary “that our Lenten celebration will open our hearts to hear God’s call to be reconciled to Himself, to fix our gaze on the paschal mystery, and to be converted to an open and sincere dialogue with Him”.<\/p>\n

(Michela Nicolais)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During this season of Lent, Pope Francis invites the faithful to fix their eyes on the crucified Lord, and allow ourselves “to be saved over and over again.” In his message for Lent, Pope Francis writes: \u201cPutting the paschal mystery at the centre of our lives means feeling compassion towards the wounds of the crucified […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5368\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}