Lenten Season Reflection – 2025

“Come back to Me with all your heart. Don’t let fear keep you apart.”
“Fear not, for I am with you.”

God’s invitation to each one of us, with the Promise that He is with us always, not to fear to come back to Him, since we have gone away from Him through our sins. He wants us to go with Him to the wilderness, in a lonely place, where God
will speak to us, in silence. What a loving Father, waits for His children, who are gone astray!
Lenten Season is a special time lent to us by God to transform ourselves. Let us take the help of the Parable of the Prodigal son, following seven words with the letter ‘R’ and come back to God our Father.

1. Realize – The Prodigal son realized his mistake. Let us realize our sinfulness which has taken us away from God. Pause ….
2. Repent – He repented for all the wrong he had done. Let us repent for paining God by our sins. Pause……
3. Return – He decided to return to his father. Let us hear God’s words, “Come back to Me… Long have I waited for your coming home to Me and living deeply our new life.” God is calling us constantly, every moment, day and night.
4. Resolve – Do I hear God’s calling? If ‘Yes’, we reply……“Yes, I shall arise and return to my Father”. The Prodigal son resolved not to go away from home again, even if he had to remain as a servant. Let us resolve not to fall into temptation and commit sin again.
5. Renewal – Now this renewal is helped by his father by welcoming him and putting new clothes on him and ring on his finger. The father invites other people to celebrate the joyful event with the family. God our Father welcomes us, His Arms open, with His Grace through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. God welcomes us lovingly, saying … “Do not be afraid…”, “I
   will raise you up on the last day. Yes, I will redeem you”.
6. Reunion – He reunites with his family members once again. Here we are at Holy Week. Jesus by dying on the Cross reunites us with the Heavenly Family. Now I realize the depth of His Love for me. Is it too late that I had lost the company of my Father? No, now that God has accepted me, forgiving all my sins, He has promised me His company Forever in His Heavenly Kingdom, provided I remain faithful to Him till the end of my life. My human nature with evil inclinations may pull me back and go away from God again. Let me invoke the Holy Spirit for guidance and strength and ask Him for grace to do His Holy Will: “O Holy Spirit, soul of my soul, I adore you, my God. Enlighten, guide, strengthen and console me. Tell me what I ought to do and command me to do it. I promise to be submissive in everything that you permit to happen to me; only
   show me what is your will.” …. A Prayer by Cardinal Mercier…The secret of Sanctity!
7. Rejoice – Finally, the Prodigal son rejoices at the celebration of his ‘homecoming’. We rejoice at the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday going for a Picnic with Jesus, Mother Mary and the Apostles. The picnic with Jesus, at the Lake Tiberias where Jesus Himself cooks fish and says, “come and Eat”. This picnic becomes an occasion of cure and restoration. At this Lake Tiberias, Jesus becomes a fountain of healing and the source of joy. Let us enjoy the picnic with the Lord and make our lives a beautiful one… to share…. to care…and also to dare to know the Lord more and to help each other more. May our Risen Lord bless us all, so that we continue our Journey towards our Heavenly Home. During this Year, the Jubilee Year 2025, we, the ‘PILGRIMS OF HOPE’ start our journey, the Pilgrim Journey, towards our Heavenly Father Who is waiting for us anxiously, not alone but with our Brothers and Sisters together with Hope, ‘Hope which will not disappoint us’, as Pope Francis says. On the way of our Journey, let us start with Lenten Practice for the week, which will supply us with the Spiritual Food for our Pilgrim Journey during this Jubilee
   Year.

Lenten practices for the week –

Monday – Wash day – Lord, help me to wash away all my selfishness and vanity, so that I may serve you with humility through the week ahead.
Tuesday – Ironing day – Dear Lord, help me iron out all the wrinkles of prejudice I have collected over the years, so that I may see the beauty of others.
Wednesday – Mending day – Oh God, help me mend my ways, so that I may not set bad example for others.
Thursday – Cleaning day – Lord Jesus, help me to dust out & wipe away all the many faults I have been hiding in the corners and recesses of my heart & mind.
Friday – Shopping day – God , give me the grace to shop wisely, so that I may purchase Eternal Happiness for myself and for all the others who hope in You.
Saturday – Cooking day. – Help me my saviour, to brew a big kettle of brotherly love and serve it with pure, sweet bread of human kindness.
Sunday – The Lord’s day – O God I have prepared a house for You. Please come into my heart, so that I may spend the day and