I posted this on the Saint Patrick's Church Blog (link over there on the right).

LENT AS A SEASON OF GRACE

I have been pondering Lenten 2005 of late. I have been thinking how easy it can be (at least for me) to think of this season of penitence as a season of scolding and nagging. Five weeks of nagging for holiness!

Here is what I have been thinking. In my own life, transformation and repentance have come on the heels of a deeper vision of the love and grace of God. My sense is that as I see more fully God's love and grace I trust him and his goodness more. This deeper trust in God enables me to give myself more fully to God. This giving myself more fully is what penitence and holiness are all about.

Perhaps sainthood is less about struggling to shed the rags of sin and more about gaining a less opaque vision of the great love and grace of God. The challenge is to grasp how lent can be a season of penitence and preparation through being a season of seeing God's love and grace.

Any thoughts?

Peter