Dear brothers and sisters,
Two weeks have passed since the penitential sign of ashes was placed on our foreheads. On Ash Wednesday, as every year, we began the Lenten pilgrimage, which culminates in the Easter triumph of Christ, the Lord of life. The Church, our Mother and Teacher, invites us to prepare our hearts and open ourselves to the grace of God with humility and simplicity, acknowledging that we are sinners and that without God’s mercy—expressed in the life, death, and resurrection of His Son—none of us could live in the hope we have received through the Easter triumph of Christ over sin and death. In his address, the Holy Father, for whom we lift our prayers to God every day, shared some reflections, especially on what it means to walk together in hope. He invited us to discover the calls to conversion that God’s mercy extends to each of us personally and communally. He also reminded us, in the second point of his reflection, of the need to share this journey with those of us who are members of the Church, synodally.
I am writing to you from Nigeria, where I am with the General Counselor, Father Edward Daleng, and our Augustinian brothers, sharing with them the fraternity and faith of believers in the Eucharist and in daily life. The encounter with those who come to listen to the Word and celebrate the Sacrament has helped me meditate on what the Pope said about what it means to “walk” and “be pilgrims of hope.” I would like this Lenten season to be special for us in this first point of the three proposed by the Holy Father for reflection. The Bishop of Rome wrote that walking “evokes the long journey of the people of Israel to the Promised Land,… and he indicated that we cannot remember the biblical exodus without thinking of so many brothers and sisters who today flee from situations of misery and violence, seeking a better life for themselves and their loved ones.”
I hope this Lent, which is a time to turn inward and work on our interiority, helps us become more sensitive to others: to those who suffer from war, violence, and racism; to the abandoned; to those who have nothing to eat; to the sick; to those who live alone; to those who weep; to the imprisoned; to those who are rejected and humiliated… May this time truly help us enter into the reality of the human beings around us and lead us to ask ourselves, as Pope Francis emphasized: How do I allow myself to be challenged by this condition? Am I truly on the move, or am I somewhat paralyzed, static, afraid, lacking hope, or satisfied in my comfort zone? Do I seek paths of liberation from situations of sin and lack of dignity?
It would be a good Lenten exercise to confront the concrete reality of an immigrant or pilgrim, allowing ourselves to be challenged, to discover what God is asking of us, so that we may be better walkers toward the Father’s house. This is a good “examination” for the traveler. May the hope of encountering the Risen Lord guide us and help us to live a Lenten season of dialogue and encounter with our brothers and sisters, especially with the poorest and most in need, and also among ourselves in our communities. May we feel the need to be saved from our miseries and sins. May we help one another along the journey and open our hearts to compassion so that we may fulfill what Jesus asks of us: “Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate,” knowing that through His compassion, He has opened the doors to eternal joy for us. This is our hope.
May the Virgin Mary, Mother of Hope, intercede for us and accompany us on our Lenten journey.
Fraternally, Fr. Alejandro Moral Antón
Prior General, OSA
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