Pope Francis’ 2014 Lent Message to his church
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent for Christians around the world, and with it comes the 46-day countdown to Easter. The religious observance gets its name from the practice of having a cross of ashes placed on the worshipper’s forehead. The ash cross is a symbol for mourning to God and a reminder of human mortality. Pope Francis had a special message to all those faithful followers to help be reminded of the true spirit and the essence of Ash Wednesday.
Addressing his Church and its followers before Ash Wednesday, Pope Francis focused his 2014 Lent message on God’s humbleness and grace. His message states that although Jesus was wealthy and rich as the son of the King of Kings, he chose to be poor for humanity’s sake. Christ gave up His riches and glory so he could be more like us in every sense; so he could be our equal and our neighbor. By choosing this life of poverty and equality, Christ gives us “true freedom, true salvation, and true happiness”, Pope Francis explains. As he emphasizes the power of God’s grace and compassion, the Christian leader urges us not to confuse destitution with poverty because destitution lacks hope and faith. He concludes by stating that God’s love and mercy are the only cure for destitution and by affirming that Lent is the time to rid ourselves of such material, moral and spiritual impoverishment.
“We [should] imitate Christ who became poor and enriched us by his poverty. 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.”
As we get ready for our penance this Lent season, let’s keep in mind Pope Francis’ message urging us to rid ourselves of that which makes us poor but makes others rich, like Christ did for us. So what will you give up this Lent season?
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