In his letter to Ephesian, St. Paul speaks about the need of ‘new life’ in Christ (Ephe 4: 17-24). Lent is a season of renewal and new life! Pope Francis begins his Lenten message for the year 2015 with the same thought. He says: “Lent is a time of renewal for the whole Church, for each communities and every believer”. At the same time he is reminding us of a great danger of the Christians, especially that of religious, i.e., indifference. He says that we have this attitude to the extent that we can speak of a globalization of indifference. We are sometimes indifferent to God, to others and to our own spiritual life. So we can say that our new life in Christ is endangered by this attitude of indifference! Lent is blessed and grace filled occasion in which God invites us to have a ‘new life’. In order to become new beings in Christ, I would say, we have to go through a Lenten process. What is this Lenten process? Let me put this process in five terms: Revaluation, Reflection, Repentance, Reconciliation and Renewal.
1. The first step is a re-evaluation. To re-evaluate is a conscious decision made by an individual to develop a plan in order to get life back on track in an attempt to focus clearly his goal of life. It requires us to be alone or pull back from the world, we just need to step back and re-evaluate our life and vocation. How we are in our religious commitment? How do I respond to the vows of poverty, obedience and chastity? How genuine I am to my responsibilities?
2. Secondly, we need reflection. On what we have to reflect? The answer is obvious, on the Word of God. In Psalms 119: 105 we read: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and light to my path”. It is the Word of God which gives us direction on focusing our goal. The Word of God is alive and active and sharper than a two edged sword (Heb 4: 12) and it will really help us to set our goals. It makes us wise because through the Word of God the Holy Spirit reveals the will of God to us. It can help us stand firm against the problems of life. And because it lifts our hearts up to the Lord, it helps us meditate on all that is true, noble, pure, lovely, and praiseworthy—that is, on God and his wonderful creation (Phil 4:8).
3. The third aspect of this Lenten process is repentance. We are human beings and it is likely that we err. So, on the basis of the two previous steps - re-evaluation and reflection - we have to repent on the errors we have committed. It is likely that we have gone away from the right track, it is likely that we have missed many times our focus. The Bible says, “...repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). Repentance is more than simply acknowledging wrongdoings. It is a change of mind and heart. It includes turning away from sin and turning to God for forgiveness. It is motivated by love for God and the sincere desire to obey His commandments. If we have sinned, the sooner we repent, the sooner we begin to make our way back and find the peace and joy that come with forgiveness. If we delay repentance, we may lose blessings, opportunities, and spiritual guidance. We may also become further entangled in sinful behaviour, making it more difficult to find our way back.
4. Repentance is not enough! We need to reconcile and it is the fourth step of this ‘lenten process’ of renewal. In Rom. 5:10-11 we read: “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life, and not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement (reconciliation)”. The word reconciliation means to unite two parties who are estranged. It means that one has given offence and the other is displeased by it, the consequence of this being a breach between them. Instead of friendship, there is a state of hostility existing. Instead of a state of peace, there is enmity which results in separation and alienation between them. So, we need to re-establish the lost friendship, we need to reinstate peace, we need to heal the wounds and we need to restore the lost unity with God and with our brethren.
5. The fifth and the last step is renewal, metanoia. It is complete change of heart. In Prophet Ezekiel we can see the promise of God: “A new heart I will give you; a new spirit I will put within you” (Eze 36:26). St. Paul exhorts the Corinthian Christians in this way: If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature (2 Cori 5:17). It implies that to be renewed means to be one with Christ. When we become one with Christ we become ‘another christ’ and we are filled with the ‘spirit’ of Christ. When we are another christ, we will love others as He loves, we show mercy as He shows mercy, we forgive as He forgives.
