“Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.” Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, the time for reflection, repentance and penance leading up to Easter Sunday. We are reminded of our own mortality as the ashes are spread across our foreheads and given the commission to return to the Lord with our whole hearts.
Lent is a merciful gift because it is a time of healing. It is a time where we learn to pray more fervently, complete additional sacrifices and enter more deeply into the mystery of Christ. This rendering of our soul recognizes our need for God and, through physical means, we are drawn ever closer to his healing love.
Jesus loves us to the point of dying for us, and all he asks in return is for us to love. Why do we need healing? It’s simple: sin. The Psalmist cries out “Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.” This simple act of humble recognition of our sinfulness, unlocks the flow of God’s mercy into our souls.
When we turn to God with a contrite heart, he forgives our sins but also does far more, he heals us with his love. Specifically, love shown through the cross. “The Cross is like a touch of eternal love on the most painful wounds of humanity’s earthly existence” (John Paul II, 2002).
Lent is a time for revealing that the mercy of God is not to leave us in our sufferings, but to give the hope of healing of our wounds, so that we can be made whole. Through our sufferings, we become witnesses of God’s mercy. This time of penitence does not have to be a path of sadness, but a freedom to embrace the merciful love of the Father and wait in hopeful expectation of His Resurrection.
Fr. Charles Sikorsky, L.C. is the President of Divine Mercy University, a graduate university dedicated to the renewal of the Catholic-Christian intellectual tradition with the empirical bases of psychology and counseling.
