January 31, 2005

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This year, the Season of Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday, February 9, 2005, is situated within the Year of the Eucharist. Therefore, our annual forty-day retreat as the disciples of Christ and members of His Body the Church takes on a specific Eucharistic character.

The three principal “works of Lent,” so clearly proclaimed in the gospel on Ash Wednesday, will assist us in our desire to belong more completely to Christ and to be more faithful as His followers. These three principal “works of Lent” are prayer, penance or fasting, and almsgiving or deeds of mercy.

Prayer opens us to the transforming power of Our Blessed Lord. In a particular way this Lent, our prayer must be Eucharistic, that is, we pray as we participate in the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice and as we adore Christ really present in the Blessed Sacrament.

How changed and transformed we will be as we deepen our understanding of and appreciation for the Eucharist as both a sacred meal and a holy sacrifice and take part in its celebration actively, consciously and fully. Our Holy Father reminds us: “The Eucharist is a great mystery! And it is one which above all must be well celebrated. Holy Mass needs to be set at the center of the Christian life and celebrated in a dignified manner by every community, in accordance with established norms, with the participation of the assembly, with the presence of ministers who carry out their assigned tasks and with a serious concern that singing and liturgical music suitably be ‘sacred.’ One specific project of this Year of the Eucharist” – and I would add, of this Lenten Season – “might be for each parish community to study the General Instruction of the Roman Missal” (Mane Nobiscum Domine, 17).

How changed and transformed we will be as we also pray before the Lord Jesus really present in the Tabernacle on a regular, even daily, basis. Our Holy Father tells us: “During this year” – and again I would add, during this Lenten Season – “Eucharistic adoration outside Mass should become a particular commitment for individual parish and religious communities. Let us take the time to kneel before Jesus present in the Eucharist, in order to make reparation by our faith and love for the acts of carelessness and neglect, and even insults which our Saviour must endure in many parts of the world” (Ibid., 18).

In addition to Eucharistic Prayer, we also open ourselves to the Lord’s transforming power as we reflect on God’s Word in the Scriptures, relive the mysteries in Christ’s life and in that of Mary His Mother in the Rosary, and trace His footsteps to death and resurrection in the Stations of the Cross. Our reception of the Sacrament of Penance likewise allows us to experience divine mercy as our sins are forgiven and we are reconciled to both the Lord and the Church.

Penance or fasting frees us to respond to the Lord’s call to “turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.” Penance or fasting also enables us to make reparation for our sins and the sins of others, especially sins against the Holy Eucharist and sins against the sacredness of human life.

Almsgiving or deeds of mercy reveals to those in need the love which Christ wishes to give them through us. Indeed, as our Holy Father observes, genuine prayer before Christ in the Eucharist leads to generous service to all our sisters and brothers, especially those in difficulty and in need. “Can we not make this Year of the Eucharist” – and indeed this Lent – “an occasion for diocesan and parish communities to commit themselves in a particular way to responding with fraternal solicitude to one of the many forms of poverty present in our world?” (Ibid., 28).

Moreover, this Lent, our Holy Father asks us to be more mindful of the elderly in our midst, showing them kindness and assisting them in their senior years. “The care of the elderly, above all when they pass through difficult moments, must be of great concern to all the faithful, especially in the ecclesial communities of Western societies, where the problem is particularly present…during Lent, aided by the Word of God, let us reflect upon how important it is that each community accompany with loving understanding those who grow old” (Lenten Message for 2005, 1, 4).

Yes, this Lent, you and I are being given a priceless and grace-filled opportunity to be drawn closer in love with the Lord Jesus really and truly present in the Eucharist and to be sent forth in His name to make His love known and felt by all in need, especially the elderly. “In this Year of grace,” – which includes the Season of Lent, – “sustained by Mary, may the Church discover new enthusiasm for her mission and come to acknowledge ever more fully that the Eucharist is the source and summit of her entire life” (Mane Nobiscum Domine, 31).

One with you in prayer, penance and almsgiving this Lent, I remain

Faithfully in Christ,

Most Reverend Paul S. Loverde
Bishop of Arlington