Lent as a
Time of Conversion
THE WORD IN LENT 2026 – SATURDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY
February 21 – Isaiah 58: 9-14; Luke 5: 27-32
Lent as a time of conversion – proposing
that leitmotif for this season, the Holy Father reflects on three key
movements we are called to. The first two, listening and fasting, the Word
called us to reflect on, the past two days. Today the Word inspires us on the
third term – together.
We see the Saviour coming in search of
the sick, the sinners, the needy and the broken. Jesus declares that
unequivocally – I have not come to call the virtuous, but the sinners to
repentance; he presents himself as the breach-mender, the Restorer of the
ruins, that Isaiah speaks of in the first reading. The season of lent is here
to bring us together, to walk together, to progress together, to grow together
mindful of this call that the Lord has open for us: Follow me!
If we wish to say “yes” to that call,
we need to ensure these three dispositions within us – that of mending our
ways, that of lending our hands, and that of tending towards the life, a life
to the full.
To follow the Lord is to mend our ways
– an ample period of 6 weeks is right here before us to launch ourselves on
this mission. We can certainly at the end of this spiritual exercise find
ourselves at least a few yards closer to being truly God’s delight.
To follow the Lord is to lend our
hands – to our brothers and sisters in need; to free the yoke of those who feel
trapped, to feed those who hunger for acceptance, affection and compassion, to
relieve those who feel oppressed by the inhuman conditions that are justified
by the cultures of today – that is the way we can become commensals in the
Reign of the Lord.
To follow the Lord is to tend towards
life – it is to see life, to give life, to promote life and not prejudices and
condemnations. We are not called to sit on judgement of the others, as to who
is going to hell and who not, instead we are called to make our way to the
Lord, towards that Absolute Life, by living our lives to the full, and making
of our lives a sacred offering to the Lord.
True lent is when we come to appreciate the absolute value and significance of the life that God has gifted us, and enhance and enrich it towards making it reflect the fullness of God – that is salvation, and that is the paschal mystery