A TIME OF GRACE AND CONVERSION
In this propitious time, let us allow ourselves to be led like Israel into the desert (cf. Hos 2:14), so that we may finally hear the voice of our Spouse and let it resonate ever more deeply within us.
The more we commit ourselves to his word, the more we will experience the mercy he freely grants us.
Let us not let this time of grace pass in vain, in the absurd illusion that we can control the timing and means of our conversion to him.
3. GOD'S PASSIONATE DESIRE TO DIALOGUE WITH HIS CHILDREN
We must never take for granted that the Lord is once again offering us a propitious time for our conversion. This new opportunity should awaken in us a sense of gratitude and shake us out of our laziness.
Despite the sometimes tragic presence of evil in our lives, in the life of the Church, and in the world, this opportunity to change course expresses God’s unwavering will not to interrupt his saving dialogue with us.
In Jesus crucified, who knew no sin but for our sake became sin (cf. 2 Cor 5:21), this salvific will led the Father to burden his Son with the weight of our sins, thus turning, in the words of Pope Benedict XVI, “God against himself” (Deus Caritas Est, 12).
For God also loves his enemies (cf. Mt 5:43–48).
TRUE DIALOGUE WITH GOD
The dialogue that God desires to establish with each of us through the Paschal Mystery of his Son has nothing to do with empty talk, such as that attributed to the ancient inhabitants of Athens, who “dedicated themselves to nothing except to say or hear something new” (Acts 17:21).
Such talk, driven by an empty and superficial curiosity, characterizes worldliness in every age. In our own day, it can also result from an improper use of the media.
SEEING CHRIST IN THOSE WHO SUFFER
Placing the Paschal Mystery at the center of our lives means feeling compassion for the wounds of Christ crucified, present in the many innocent victims of wars, in attacks on life—from the unborn to the elderly—and in various forms of violence.
His wounds are also present in environmental disasters, the unequal distribution of the earth’s goods, human trafficking in all its forms, and the unbridled pursuit of profit, which is itself a form of idolatry.
CHARITY AND A MORE JUST WORLD
Today too, it is necessary to appeal to men and women of good will to share, through almsgiving, their goods with those most in need, as a means of personally participating in building a better world.
Charity makes us more human, while hoarding risks making us less human, leaving us prisoners of our own selfishness.
We can and must go further by considering the structural aspects of our economic life.
For this reason, in the midst of Lent, from March 26 to 28, I convened a meeting in Assisi with young economists, entrepreneurs, and change-makers, with the aim of building a more just and inclusive economy.
As the Church’s Magisterium has often repeated, political life represents an eminent form of charity (cf. Pius XI, Address to the Italian Federation of Catholic University Students, December 18, 1927).
The same applies to economic life, which can be approached with the same evangelical spirit—the spirit of the Beatitudes.
A FINAL PRAYER TO MARY
I ask Mary Most Holy to pray that our Lenten celebration may open our hearts to hear God’s call to reconcile with him, to fix our gaze on the Paschal Mystery, and to open ourselves to an open and sincere dialogue with him.
In this way, we will become what Christ asks of his disciples: the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
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