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Fourth Sunday of Lent

March 9, 2024

It is a time of conversion, a time of freedom.

We are on our way to Easter. This Sunday’s readings remind us of the infidelities of men, but in Jesus we find salvation.

We are approaching another excerpt from the Pope’s Message this Lent.

God never tires of us. Let us embrace Lent as the powerful time in which his Word addresses us again: “I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of a place of slavery”. It is a time of conversion, a time of freedom.

The exodus from slavery to freedom is not an abstract path. On my trip to Lampedusa, faced with the globalization of indifference, I posed two questions that are increasingly topical: “Where are you?” (Gen 3:9) and “Where is your brother?” (Gen 4:9). The Lenten journey will be concrete if, listening to them again, we confess that we are still under the dominion of Pharaoh. It is a domain that leaves us exhausted and makes us insensitive. It is a growth model that divides us and robs us of the future; that has polluted the land, air and water, but also souls. For although our liberation has already begun with baptism, there remains in us an inexplicable longing for slavery. It is like an attraction to the security of what has already been seen, to the detriment of freedom.

The voice of God, who says: “You are my beloved Son” and “you shall have no other gods before me,” is in fact opposed by the lies of the enemy. There is, however, a new humanity, that of the small and humble who have not succumbed to the charm of lies.

To think and pray:

  • God never tires of us. God never tires of me. God doesn’t get tired of those I do. I look at this God who never tires and let his patient love wash over me.
  • We are still under Pharaoh’s rule. How is my Lent going? Have I discovered what exhausts me and makes me insensitive? Do I live growing and growing? Do I entrench myself in my securities (things, ideas, places, people, schemes…) or do I leave room for surprise, for freedom, for the Spirit to guide me?
  • There is a new humanity, that of the small and humble who have not succumbed to the charm of lies. I check my address book and find out who makes up this new humanity that surrounds me. I give thanks for each person. And me, do I want to be one of the small and humble?

Ash Wednesday

First Sunday of Lent

Second Sunday of Lent

Third Sunday of Lent

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