Each year, the Roman Pontiff customarily issues a Lenten message. Pope Francis has entitled his Lenten message for

2024: “Through the Desert God Leads us to Freedom.”

The reflection that he offers to the Church for our penitential preparation for the Triduum concluding in the Easter feast of the resurrection centers on the challenge and the reality of spiritual freedom. His comments are worthy of our reflection.

He bases his message on the Exodus of the People of Israel from Egypt and the 40 years that they subsequently spent under God’s tutelage as they wandered in the desert. Our 40 days of
fasting and prayer find their roots in that Old Testament experience.

Pope Francis comments that in the Scriptural account, the People of Israel had found themselves enslaved in Egypt. That was the circumstance of life that surrounded them. Despite their sorrow, they had resigned themselves to their misery. The Holy Father comments, “In the Exodus account, Pharaoh stifles dreams, blocks the view of heaven, makes it appear that this world, in which human dignity is trampled upon and authentic bonds are denied, can never change. He put everything in bondage to himself.”

Part of our Lenten objective should be to look at ourselves and this world anew. We need to ask, have we resigned ourselves to lives that are diminished humanly and spiritually by sin? We need to remind ourselves that we were made for more than this world and for slavery to its allures and comforts. As we look around at the sadness, loneliness and anger that so typify our time and place, we sense what slavery to sin and distance from God can do to us.

Pope Francis points out that God saw the suffering of His people. In the Exodus account, even without being asked by them, God intervened to lead His people on trek through the desert to the place he had intended for them. That journey was hard. As Pope Francis comments, “The exodus from slavery to freedom is no abstract journey. If our celebration of Lent is to be concrete, the first step is to desire to open our eyes to reality.”

One of the great temptations of modern life is to lose hope. If we do not have God and our Catholic faith at the true center of our life, we must fill that void with earthly elements. Inevitably they are passing things. Often, they become distractions that substitute for God’s place in our lives. By compromising and accepting the centrality in
our souls of what is not God, we begin to trust in this world which will ultimately disappoint us as
it passes away.

Our 40 days with Christ and the Church during Lent are a time for serious prayer. Are we going to Mass during the week if possible? Are we saying the rosary at home with the express intention of conversion, our own or by others? Have we entered the struggle to end what Christ and the Church identify as sinful that has taken root in daily life? This is the way to seek the freedom for which we were made and to which Jesus calls us.

Don’t forget the great moment of freedom that comes from confessing our sins and receiving absolution. Please make sure a Lenten confession is a part of your Lenten practice, especially if it has been a long time since your last confession. Our Be Reconciled Day will be March 20. All our parishes will seek to hear confessions from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. But check your parish bulletin for precise times.

Lent gives us hope. It reminds us of the freedom that is possible through faith, conversion and
the sacraments. Let’s take full advantage of this great gift.