As we gather on this First Sunday of Lent, we hear of Jesus being tempted, and we hear of God’s People being afflicted and oppressed. Each sounds, in purely human terms, like a cause for turning away or fleeing. In terms that are still human but infused with the grace of God and divine wisdom, they are the very means of invitation. Responding to rather than fleeing temptation, affliction, or oppression we find the path to Christ.

     During the weeks of Lent, on Monday evenings at 7:00 PM, we will have opportunities to look squarely into the mysteries of sin, suffering, and death that oppress us. In that very movement we will draw near to the Mystery of Christ, who is our path to healing. This Monday evening, we will pray and consider the specific elements of our lives that might be touched with Divine Mercy. In the weeks of Lent that follow we will celebrate as scheduled through the celebration of Evening Prayer and the Sacraments of Reconciliation and of the Anointing of the Sick.

     Today, as we gather to celebrate our liturgy of worship and thanksgiving to God, it is good to consider how we have heard the Word of invitation and welcome that brings us here, and that brings us together. That Word took flesh for us and for our salvation. That Word knows the glory to which we are called, but knows also the weights we carry on our shoulders and in our hearts. That Word calls us here and calls us together not because we are a perfect people but because we are called to be perfected.

     We gather and greet one another not only because we know each other as well or as little as we do, but also because we know God and God knows us. We gather and begin our time together stating clearly and sincerely that God’s mercy has chosen to meet repentant hearts with grace for life. God’s mercy chooses to meet sin with forgiveness. God’s mercy has chooses to meet human suffering with compassion and the oil of gladness.

     May the weeks of Lent that stretch before us be, indeed, a journey more fully into the truth that Christ’s Passion is our Path to Healing.