Daily prayer
to St. Jude

O kindSaint-Jude, our faithful intercessor to Jesus, receive the following special intentions : to present them to the Almighty Lord, Root of all good. Above all, grant us an increase of our faith in His love. May each day find us closer in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. KindSaint-Jude, you who has revived hope in our hearts, you whose model merits and life bring us the divine blessings and graces, be our advocate, and lead us to Jesus and Mary. With you, blessed apostle, we give thanks and praise God with all our heart for His innumerable kindnesses. Amen.

The Monthly Note

March 2007

Rediscovering the purity of our first love

by Fr. Bernard East, OP

Last fall I met a couple that are married for 10 years.  A visible happy, united and beaming couple.  This couple gave me the following testimony: « We have an unforgivable memory of our honeymoon.  These days meant a lot in our life.  During this past summer, we have had the joy of going back on that honeymoon. It permitted us to rediscover the purity of our first love».

Today, I am happy to cite to you this testimony because it permits us to grasp the real meaning of Lent.  It might be surprising to compare Lent to a second honeymoon but, in both cases, the result is sensibly the same.  During Lent, it is up to us, as Christians, to rediscover the purity of our first love, to live it in all its richness and fullness; to rediscover, in the Church, the meaning of the covenant of love that the Lord invites us to experience with Him.

This is what the Lord invites us to do during the opening ceremony of Lent. In essence, this is the meaning of the invitation that the Lord gave us through the prophet Joel: «Return to the Lord, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. Blow the trumpet, proclaim a fast, call an assembly; gather the people». The Lord invites us to a reunion feast. He invites us to welcome His love, His mercy and to enter, with all our heart, in His Holy Covenant.

The Lord used the same invitation through the Apostle Paul: « Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. Be reconciled to God. Experience His love, His kindness, His mercy ».

As mediator of the New Covenant, Jesus invites us, through fasting, to create within us a space for God and for our brothers and sisters; by praying, intensifying our close relationship with God; by almsgiving, showing the tenderness of His Love.

Let live our Lent this way and we will thus rediscover the purity of our first love, the meaning of the covenant the Lord invites us to live with Him.

«No one is too far for God» (Hymn of Lent)