Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

Just a few days ago, as Christ’s followers, we began the Lenten journey. Receiving ashes on our forehead we recalled that ‘we are dust and to dust we will return’. A certain sombreness seemed to descend upon us as we enter into the privileged desert time to walk the Exodus journey. However it was almost as if our liturgical journey was interrupted and we  seemed to be surrounded  by hearts, flowers, roses and the apparent commercialism that accompanies St. Valentine’s Day. I recalled one of Pope Emeritus Benedict’s phrases from one of the Angelus’: "Every human being is loved by God the Father. No one need feel forgotten, for every name is written in the Lord’s loving heart." Valentine’s  Day can be a hard time for some people who feel alone or have been hurt because of relationships or are afraid to open their hearts to love and trust someone. It can also be an awkward feastday for many. Single people often feel isolated. People in relationships feel obliged to show...

1. Get rid of the lazy addiction to evil - “[Lent] is a ‘powerful’ season, a turning point that can foster change and conversion in each of us. We all need to improve, to change for the better. Lent helps us and thus we leave behind old habits and the lazy addiction to the evil that deceives and ensnares us. ” – General Audience, March 5, 2014  2.  Do something that costs us- “Lent is a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty. Let us not forget that real poverty hurts: no self-denial is real without this dimension of penance. I distrust a charity that costs nothing and does not hurt. ” – Lenten Message, 2014   3.  Don’t remain indifferent- “Indifference to our neighbour and to God also represents a real temptation for us Christians. Each year during Lent we need to hear once more the voice of the prophets who cry out and trouble our conscience. God is not in...

A few people have asked if I am going off Facebook and social media for Lent this year. The answer is no. Every year I toy with the idea. Some years I have fasted from Facebook and it has been good, I have to say. Each person knows what they have to do to make Lent more meaningful for themselves so as to arrive at Easter, a more committed disciple of Jesus, ready to celebrate the true meaning of Resurrection. It is a bigger challenge for me to post things which are signposts to God, pointing to the meaning of this blessed season. I am conscious that there are many of my friends here who don't go to Church yet appreciate some of the religious posts I put here. We can bring Good News. We are called to be saints! I have set myself the challenge to look at what I am posting, liking, sharing etc...and see if I can be less superficial and more wholesome. It is an invitation to post things which are positive and forward looking, honest yet respectful, life giving and not soul dest...