On Feb. 22, we began the holy season of Lent, a time for special reflection on the sacrifice of Christ for our salvation. It is a time also for us to gain a greater appreciation of the betrayal, passion, death, resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Of old, Lent was marked by a more rigorous system of fasting from food and abstinence from meat than the present discipline of the Church requires of us. It was the thinking of the bishops at that time that our spiritual lives would be better served by deeper recourse to prayer and reflection on these basic truths of our faith.

For those who are able to do so, it is highly recommended that we attend Mass more frequently in Lent, even daily. The liturgies of the Lenten season, the succession of Sundays and weekdays, carefully expose to us the truths that we should consider and cherish more in this season. Another cherished devotion is the Way of the Cross in any of the versions approved by the Church. So beneficial is this devotion that the Church makes it possible even for those who cannot come to Church to meditate on the fourteen stations in the presence of a crucifix. The solemn drama that is enacted in that devotion has touched hearts for centuries.

It is the hope of the Church that the prayer, almsgiving, fasting and abstinence that we are able to do in Lent will open for us new vistas showing us greater opportunities to witness our Catholic faith in the world: a special care to cultivate love and peace within our homes and families, a determination to right some of the terrible wrongs that occur in our devolving society and a more focused attention on the needs of the poor and downtrodden are among the ways we can make this known. Formerly our Lenten practices were spelled out in great detail. Now we are asked to pray to our Lord for guidance and in that light to choose what we shall do to observe Lent fruitfully in such a way that Easter will find us refreshed and cleansed and ready to greet the boundless hope and joy of the Resurrection which is ours for the asking.

In his audience last week, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, spoke of three phrases which Christ uttered from the Cross as they appear in the Gospel of St. Luke. Even as he was raised on the Cross, Jesus prayed: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." The Holy Father notes that Christ presents ignorance, "not knowing" as a motive for asking God's forgiveness since that kind of ignorance opens the way to conversion.

The second phrase: "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise," was spoken to the good thief. It is a poignant reminder that as long as we have breath, it is not too late to throw ourselves upon the mercy of God.

At the moment of his death, Jesus prayed: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." It is a prayer of abandonment to God's will, but it is also evidence of that calm approach to death which comes from faith in God's love and a desire to do His will.

The Holy Father wrote: "Jesus, at the extreme moment of death, entrusted himself entirely into the hands of God the Father, communicating to us the certainty that, however difficult our trials ... or burdensome our suffering, we will never fall out of God's hands, the hands which created us, and which support and accompany us on life's journey."