In this season of Lent, Pope Francis invites us to a journey of conversion, marked by hope and fraternity. In this letter, he urges us to move forward together towards the light of the Risen Christ.
“Dear brothers and sisters,
With the penitential sign of ashes on our heads, we begin the annual pilgrimage of Holy Lent in faith and hope. The Church, mother and teacher, invites us to prepare our hearts and open ourselves to God’s grace, so that we can joyfully celebrate Christ the Lord’s Paschal triumph over sin and death. Saint Paul proclaims: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor 15:54-55). Indeed, Jesus Christ, dead and risen, is the center of our faith and the guarantor of the Father’s great promise of eternal life, already realized in his beloved Son (cf. Jn 10:28; 17:3).
During this Lent, enriched by the grace of the Jubilee Year, I would like to offer some reflections on what it means to walk together in hope, and to discover the calls to conversion that God’s mercy addresses to everyone, as individuals and as communities.
First of all, to walk. The Jubilee motto, “Pilgrims of Hope”, reminds us of the long journey of the people of Israel to the Promised Land, recounted in the Book of Exodus: a difficult march from slavery to freedom, willed and guided by the Lord who loves his people and is always faithful to them. And we cannot evoke the biblical Exodus without thinking of so many brothers and sisters who, today, are fleeing situations of misery and violence, in search of a better life for themselves and their loved ones. A first call to conversion appears here, for in life, we are all pilgrims. We can all ask ourselves: how do I allow myself to be challenged by this condition? Am I really on the road, or rather paralyzed, static, fearful and lacking in hope, or still settled in my comfort zone? Am I looking for ways to free myself from situations of sin and lack of dignity? It would be a good Lenten exercise to confront ourselves with the concrete reality of a migrant or a pilgrim, and to let ourselves be touched in such a way as to discover what God asks of us to be better travelers towards the Father’s house. This would be a good “test” for the walker.
Secondly, let’s walk this path together. To walk together, to be synodal, is the vocation of the Church. Christians are called to journey together, never as solitary travelers. The Holy Spirit urges us to come out of ourselves to God and to our brothers and sisters, and never to close in on ourselves. To walk together is to be weavers of unity, starting from our common dignity as children of God (cf. Gal 3:26-28); it means moving forward side by side, without trampling or dominating the other, without harboring envy or hypocrisy, without leaving anyone behind or feeling excluded. Let’s move in the same direction, towards the same goal, listening to each other with love and patience.
This Lent, God is asking us to check whether in our lives, in our families, in the places where we work, in parish or religious communities, we are capable of walking with others, of listening, of overcoming the temptation to anchor ourselves in our self-referentiality and concern ourselves only with our own needs. Let us ask ourselves before the Lord whether we are capable of working together – bishops, priests, consecrated persons and laity – in the service of the Kingdom of God; whether we have a welcoming attitude, with concrete gestures towards those who approach us and those who are far away; whether we make people feel part of the community or keep them on the margins. This is a second call: conversion to synodality.
Thirdly, let us make this journey together in the hope of a promise. May the hope that does not disappoint (cf. Rom 5:5), the central message of the Jubilee, be for us the horizon of the Lenten journey towards Easter victory. As Pope Benedict XVI taught us in his encyclical Spe salvi: “Human beings need unconditional love. He needs the certainty that makes him say: ‘Neither death nor life, neither spirits nor powers, neither the present nor the future, neither stars nor heavens nor depths nor any other creature, nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:38-39). Jesus, our love and hope, has risen, lives and reigns gloriously. Death has been transformed into victory, and therein lies the faith and great hope of Christians: the resurrection of Christ!
And here is the final call to conversion: that of hope, of trust in God and his great promise of eternal life. We must ask ourselves: do I have the conviction that God forgives my sins? Or do I act as if I can save myself? Do I long for salvation and ask God to help me obtain it? Do I concretely live out the hope that helps me to read the events of history and motivates me to commit myself to justice, fraternity and the care of our common home, ensuring that no one is left behind?
Sisters and brothers, thanks to God’s love in Jesus Christ, we are kept in the hope that does not disappoint (cf. Rom 5:5). Hope is the “anchor of the soul”, sure and unfailing. It is in hope that the Church prays that “all men may be saved” (1 Tim 2:4), and that she awaits the glory of heaven, united with Christ, her spouse. This is how St. Therese of Jesus expressed herself: “Hope, O my soul, hope. You don’t know the day or the hour. Watch carefully, everything passes quickly, even though your impatience makes what is certain doubtful, and a very short time long” (Exclamations of the Soul to its God, 15, 3).
May the Virgin Mary, Mother of Hope, intercede for us and accompany us on our Lenten journey.”
Rome, Saint John Lateran, February 6, 2025, memorial of Saint Paul Miki and his companions, martyrs.
FRANCIS.