1st Sunday of Lent, Year C
The season of Lent my dear brothers and sister is a time to purify our souls and spirit so as to sincerely return to the Lord. It is a time of penance, mortification and interior renewal. In order for us to return to the Lord, we have to detach ourselves from our attachment to earthly things, truly abandon our life of sin, ask God for forgiveness and wholeheartedly turn towards our Lord. So how can we make this happen? We can achieve these goals through a spiritual journey of REPENTANCE, RECONCILIATION, REFORMATION and RENEWAL.
REPENTANCE - We have to take a moment and think about our lives as Christians and find out what areas of our life we have disappointed God in and how we have destroyed our relationship with Him through sin. We find out our wrongdoings, acknowledge them and be contrite about them.
RECONCILIATION - After finding out our wrongdoings, acknowledging them and being contrite about them, we then reconcile ourselves with God in the Sacrament of Penance or Confession by asking God for pardon for and forgiveness of our sins and absolution from the priest.
REFORMATION - After receiving absolution from the priest and pardon for and forgiveness of our sins from God, it is time to reform and change our lives, that is changing our thoughts, words and actions so as to be faithful to God. This reformation should be a transformation to a new us, that shows we are changing for good, to being better disciples and examples of Christ in our world today.
RENEWAL - With our lives reformed and transformed, we then renew our lives to God as new citizens of heaven and His true disciples. This renewal entails giving up our former way of life and embracing the new life in Christ that will guide us closer to God during this Lent season as we journey back to Him.
Hence my brothers and sisters, let us open up our minds, hearts and spirit by letting God guide us closer to Himself this Lenten season. Let our Lenten practices for prayer, fasting and almsgiving help us repent from our sins, reconcile ourselves to God, reform our lives to be better disciples of Christ and renew our lives for the great glory of God and the attainment of our heavenly reward, Amen.
