Come Let Us Return To The Lord (Hosea 6:1-3)


There is a time for everything on the face of the earth (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)
In the life of the Church there are various seasons and by tomorrow we shall begin the season of lent. This is the forty days ( not including sundays) of fasting, prayers and penitence before Easter. It is influenced among other things by the forty day fasting tradition, an ascetical one based on imitation of Jesus' life who was led into the desert by the Spirit immediately after His baptism at the Jordan.

In the life of the Church the lenten season which begins tomorrow is a time for Catholics and Christians to return to the Lord. Sometimes in life we are driven very far away from the presence of the Lord by our sensual passions or excessive quest to acquire and possess material things. In the course of this pursuit of ephemeral things, we tend to fluctuate or backslide in our faith, spirituality, prayer life, holy living and when it reaches to the extreme our hearts get cold that we no longer go to Church and we do not have any reverence for the sacred.

However, since God knows that human beings are weak and can change easily, He always provides opportunity to the faithful through the instrument of the Church for them to make amends and come back to Him.

A sincere answer from you and me as Christians will show that we are not yet who or what we are supposed to be in the presence of the Lord. We fall many times and we disappoint the Lord by our actions. This season which begins tomorrow is a time to make amends and return back to the Lord who will heal us from the wounds of sin and make us better and stronger to serve Him.

The question now is: whether we are ready and prepared for this season of metanoia and interior conversion. This is a season when we are expected to rise and shine out in holy living and good lives and sin will no longer have control over us.

The following tips could be of help to a sincere penitent:

* The season of lent is a time for fasting, abstinence, prayer, penitence and almsgiving. Be sincere in practicing it and commit yourself deeply in it so that at the end of the season you shall rise with Jesus to become a new person.

* You will begin your season by making out time to go for the sacrament of reconciliation. Make a good confession and ask God the strength to help you have a good and fruitful lenten season.

* Find out the sin, sins or bad habits you want to conquer, then from the very first day begin your fight in that regard and ask God to help you overcome them.

* Take all the spiritual exercises of this season very seriously. Practice virtue and seek to do good always.

Avoid places, things and persons that will be a temptation for you or make you fall from the efforts you are putting in to better yourself.

* Pray more, love more, forgive more, show charity more and be peaceful.

* Talk less, but act more. Silence is golden and it will help you in meditation and interior recollection.

* Incase you fall, do not remain where you have fallen. Rise up and continue to fight till the end.

* involve yourself in spiritual things like: attending masses, stations of the cross, reading the bible, praying the rosary, visiting and praying before the blessed sacrament e.t.c

* practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy
-feed the hungry
-give drink to the thirsty
-clothe the naked
-shelter the homeless
-visit the sick
-visit the imprisoned
-bury the dead

-counsel the doubtful
-Instruct the ignorant
-admonish the sinner
-comfort the sorrowful
-forgive all injuries
-bear wrongs patiently
-pray for the living and the dead

* you can abstain from  food, drinks, ostentacious living and everyother thing that will not lift your spirit. Moderation is the watch word.

The following tips and many more you will discover in the course of the season will help you to have a good and fruitful lenten season. Try your best and let God lead you and as we make sincere effort to return to Him may His eyes of mercy be upon us, may He forgive our sins and grant us His salvation.

Let us pray: Oh Lord, help me as I return back to you in this lenten season. May your strength see me through my resolves and may I rise at Easter with your Son Jesus. Amen.

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