In three days, Lent begins. Forty days before Holy Week. It’s a time many Catholics don’t want to experience, and, let’s be honest, find boring. You know that Lent begins with Ash Wednesday. It’s a day when, unfortunately, many people come—those Catholic brothers and sisters who don’t usually go to church, except occasionally, like on Ash Wednesday. They think that by having the ash cross marked on their foreheads, God will help them and everything will change for the better. The ash cross has become something of a good luck charm; a superstition that wards off “bad vibes” and brings “good luck.” But things aren’t like that. In fact, the first reading at Mass that day, from the prophet Joel, begins with this phrase: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Repent and turn to me with all your heart, even now.'” It’s a phrase that carries a powerful invitation: REPENT. That means a change of mindset and lifestyle. If you can’t grasp this, no matter how many crosses you have placed on your forehead, they won’t do you any good. Lent is a serious time. Today we don’t give it the importance it deserves because we live in a world where people have stopped believing. That’s called apostasy. The worst crisis the Church has experienced in over 2,000 years of history.
Have a blessed Sunday, everyone.