Biblically, Lent is the time Jesus spent in the desert preparing to face death on the cross. “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry.
The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." Jesus replied, "It is written: 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:1-4)
In this way, Lent is a propitious time of prayer, penance and charity, tripod of the teachings left by Jesus to his disciples. A period of intense experience of Christian values, in which love of neighbor, mutual respect, solidarity and forgiveness must prevail among all. In other words, Lent is the period in which the Christian renews his faith in God, since with Jesus' death on the cross He redeemed our sins and with Him we are resurrected for His glory.
In a society as materialistic as ours, where no one cares about the other, we have no doubt that Jesus is resurrected every time when we practice charity, when we pray for our enemies, when we feed the hungry, when we respect those who it does not practice the same religion as ours, when we welcome foreigners, when we are not arrogant, self-sufficient and haughty. When we practice some of these actions, or all, we cannot forget the Love of God towards us, because without it we would not be able to accomplish so many things.
In the Sacred Scriptures, we find three virtues of those who practice charity: the first, as a friend; the second, of a son; the third, of heir. Three Bible verses correspond to these three virtues:
You may also like
- Discover the transformative opportunity that Easter brings us
- Meet Jesus Christ: History and Teachings
- Understand Charity, a great lesson in love
“Then the King will say to those on his right: 'Come, you blessed of my Father! Inherit the Kingdom that has been prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a foreigner, and you welcomed me; I needed clothes, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you took care of me; I was in prison, and you visited me'”. (Matthew 25:34-36). If not all the time, at least in this period of Lent, let us practice charity and be pious!
