Dear Friends,

We are over halfway in our Lenten journey now, this precious season of reflection and preparation before we once again enter into the passion, death and resurrection of Our Lord during Holy Week and Easter.

In this Jubilee Year, Pope Francis entitled his Lenten Message, “Let Us Journey Together in Hope” and no doubt this prayer sustained him during his recent serious health crisis, as millions around the world joined their Lenten prayer journey to his sufferings.

The title of the Pope’s Lenten Message indicates to us that no matter how challenging our Lenten journey might be, we are never alone. Not only is God always with us, but Francis is also calling on us to journey together as Christians united in faith towards the sure hope of Easter.

He writes: “This Lent, God is asking us to examine whether in our lives, in our families, in the places where we work and spend our time, we are capable of walking together with others, listening to them, resisting the temptation to become self-absorbed and to think only of our own needs. Let us ask ourselves in the presence of the Lord whether, as bishops, priests, consecrated persons and laity in the service of the Kingdom of God, we cooperate with others. Whether we show ourselves welcoming, with concrete gestures, to those both near and far. Whether we make others feel a part of the community or keep them at a distance.^[4]This, then, is a second call to conversion: a summons to synodality.”

It strikes me that the call to ‘Journey Together in Hope’ is also the call to Mission. For surely that is the very definition of Mission. To journey together in Christian hope is, as the Pope says, an invitation to walk together with others, listening to them, reaching out to those in need, and avoiding the great trap of modern times, self-absorption. When we journey together, we each share the Light of Christ which is within us and we recognise and embrace that Light in others.

This Lent, let us heed the call to Journey Together in Hope. Let’s actively seek out people to journey with, and let the Light of Christ illuminate our path together as we look to the events of Calvary and beyond.

Yours in the Word,

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD,

Provincial.