Dear Brothers and Sisters,
When you set out on a journey it is very important to have a good idea of where you are headed,
otherwise you might end up going round in circles and get nowhere in the end!
So, where are you headed this Lent? Do you know? Have you got a map; some directions; at least a
vague idea? Perhaps the Church can help us. Let’s see how she wants to guide us on our journey
through Lent this year. Looking at this Sunday, the First Sunday of Lent, “temptation” seems to be the
keyword. And it’s the Word of God that will guide and protect us. We need to learn to trust in God
and not to presume on him. There is a big difference. In the end God is the centre, he’s the one we
worship and serve alone – nothing else, no-one else.
As we begin our journey we pray:
Father, nourish our faith, increase our hope, strengthen our charity, that we may learn to hunger for
Christ, the true and living bread, and strive to live by every word which proceeds from your mouth.
So we are on our way! Where next? Journeying on can wear us out and make us feel lost, not just
outside but inside too. As we move towards the Second Week of Lent we are told to listen to Jesus,
the Father’s well-favoured Son. And we are also to remember that in Jesus, we too are children of
God, sons and daughters of the Father, well-favoured and well-loved now and always. That’s our true
identity. If we know that we can never be lost.
Having said that, there are times when we do lose our way and wander down the wrong path, the
wrong alley-way. There are times when we don’t even realise that we are lost and we keep doggedly
travelling on. The wonderful thing is that our God is looking for us. He is searching for us, watching
out for each of us. On the Third Sunday of Lent, we meet Jesus who was looking for the woman at the
well, waiting for her. He was thirsty, but thirsty for her faith, wanting to plant the seed of faith in her,
and set her alight with the fire of his divine love. And he wants to do the same for each of us as well,
even when we are lost; especially when we are lost. Yes, we can stumble around bumping into all that life places in our path, and at times this can hurt
and prevent us from making progress. In fact, we can become so confused that we suffer from a type
of blindness that prevents us from seeing what is staring us in the face. On the Fourth Sunday of Lent,
Jesus cures the man who was born blind. It is as if this man is a symbol of you and me. What Jesus
does to the man he also does to us; as adopted children we are brought into the light of faith through
the waters of Baptism, restored and healed.
With the Fifth Sunday of Lent we are not too far from the end of our journey. We are getting there. As
with many of our journeys, just as we think we are reaching the end, something happens to thwart or
disappoint us. Jesus is told that his friend, Lazarus has died. He goes to the place where he is buried,
weeping for him. He calls out, “Lazarus, come out. Unbind him, let him go free.” In doing and saying
this, Jesus reassures us that nothing can really thwart or disappoint us because in Him we will be
raised up, unbound from sin and set free to be with Him forever.
And so, as we reach Palm Sunday and Holy Week we come to the end of our Lenten journey, by
accompanying the Lord as he enters Jerusalem to face those saving events which give meaning to our
lives. But we can’t be mere spectators, we need to walk with the Lord, share his journey as best we
can. In the Letter to the Romans (6.8) we are told, “If in union with Christ we have imitated his death,
we shall also imitate him in his resurrection.” This is surely the true end of our journey. This is where
we have been heading all our lives. This is certainly where the Church’s map has been slowly but
surely leading us all through Lent and indeed all through life. So, journey with the Church and have a
good Lent. And finally
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has given us new birth by water and the Holy Spirit,
bestow on us the forgiveness of our sins and keep us by his grace, in Christ Jesus our Lord, for
eternal life.
Yours in blessed hope,
+Terence Patrick
Bishop of Middlesbrough
11.02.2014 – The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes