Bishop Nicholas celebrated Mass in Plymouth Cathedral today and spoke about the opportunity that Lent offers to deepen ourselves and seek a closer encounter with the Lord. You can watch the full Mass here.
“It’s good on this day to remind ourselves what the word ‘Lent’ actually means. It comes, of course, from the Old English word, to ‘lengthen’. If you think about it, it’s always around this time of Ash Wednesday that we find ourselves saying, “The days are lengthening” – and that’s because they are! We realise it will soon be spring; the season of new life, when nature rises from the earth and Christ rises from the tomb.
Part of our prayer today should be that Christ will help us arise from Lent a deeper person. The Church traditionally encourages us to deepen ourselves in three ways – with Prayer, Almsgiving and Reconciliation. We’re encouraged to seek a daily encounter with the Lord in prayer. We’re encouraged to fast and give a little of what we save to those who have much less than we do. We’re encouraged to be reconciled with our neighbour and with God.
“Return to me,” the Lord cries out in our 1st reading, on the lips of the prophet Joel, “return to me with all your heart.” There can surely be no better way to prepare for Easter than to return to the Lord with sincere repentance in our hearts and to confess our sins. If we find it hard to go to Confession, we should take heart from the reminder Joel wishes us sincerely to heed – that our God is a merciful God. Hear Joel’s call as it has resonated down the centuries – and trust.
Pope Francis understood how difficult it is for some people; and he used to encourage them by saying, “You know, when you go to Confession, you need to remember that it’s not really the priest who waits to meet you but Christ himself. Christ knows already what sins you have committed: he just waits for you to own them, to own your sin, and to beg forgiveness.”
I like to think, when I’m preparing to confess my sins, that God is like the father of the Prodigal Son: he stands outside the confessional looking for me with love, waiting to embrace me. If, during Lent, you say to yourself, “I do need to go and be reconciled”, let yourself be encouraged by the words also of Paul: “Now is the favourable time. Be reconciled to God.” Tell yourself, “What time could be more appropriate than now? How could I ever find a better preparation for Easter than to let him raise me up from my sin by receiving absolution?” Let the receiving of ashes in a short while be a sign of intent, both for yourself and towards God, of your desire to be reconciled.
Meanwhile, if, as the days of Lent pass, you feel you feel you haven’t prayed as much as you resolved to, then call to mind again the words of Jesus himself which we hear in today’s Gospel: “Go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret.” Believe Jesus when he says, “Your Father who is in secret will reward you.” Meaning? He will answer your prayer.
And if you wonder what to pray, there is hardly a better prayer than the Psalm we’re given today – the Miserere:
“Have mercy on me, God,
According to your merciful love
Create a pure heart for me, O God;
Renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Restore in me the joy of salvation;
Sustain in me a willing spirit.
O Lord, open my lips
And my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Have mercy on me, God,
According to your merciful love
Create a pure heart for me, O God;
Renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
Imagine if we prayed that psalm every day of Lent. I’m going to. It really could be a deepening for us. Should you reach the middle of Lent and wonder, “What was that Psalm again?” it’s easy to remember. Because its Psalm 50 – one of the most famous psalms; and a real gift to prayer.”
Bishop Nicholas Hudson