Lenten message from Roman Catholic Church

Tue, Feb 24, 2015

From Bishop Jason Gordon, Bishop of Bridgetown in Barbados and Kingstown in St Vincent and the Grenadines

Lent is here again. It is that time of year when we enter the proverbial “desert” with Jesus, spending forty days in preparation for the beautiful and momentous season of EASTER.

The desert, for many of us today, can be the experience of frustration, pain, anxiety, depression, serious sickness, loneliness, fear and temptation to despair.{{more}} Lent is an opportunity for us to remember that in the desert we are never alone and that the desert will bloom again as we read in Isaiah 35, “The dry lands and the desert will bloom again.”

Lent is a time when we remember that Jesus spent forty days in the desert to do battle with and resist the devil on our behalf. It is the time to remember that Jesus is in the desert with us as we go through our desert.

Very few, if any, will doubt that our nation, region, indeed our world is going through a desert experience. The news continues to be bad news. Yet that news is not all that there is. There is the greatest news as well that God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son, so that all who believe in him will not perish but have everlasting life. There is the Good News that no failure, no pain or suffering, no disaster, not even death itself can separate us from the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I unite with Pope Francis in his challenge to our indifference to the suffering ones around us. What he calls the globalization of indifference. Let us this Lent give up indifference, apathy, selfishness, pity and self-absorption. In the spirit of Lent let us turn out hearts towards the suffering ones around us: towards the poor, the elderly, those on the street, those who lost jobs and cannot find their way. Let us become the face of Christ for each of these. Let us be God’s mercy.

Please unite with us during the upcoming forty days, beginning on Ash Wednesday, when we place ashes on our foreheads to mark our forty days observance. Pray for us and with us that our Church, Nation and Region will be a source of love to those in most need. Let us hear the call LENT! CLEAN UP FOR EASTER.

May God bless you.

Charles Jason Gordon
Bishop of Kingstown