An invitation to embark on a journey of following Jesus in order to deepen and embrace his mystery of salvation. This is what the Pope says in his 2023 Lenten Message, in which he highlights the relationship between the Lenten journey and the synodal journey that we, as a Church, are committed to carrying out, rooted in tradition and open to new ideas.
Mariangela Jaguraba Vatican News
This Friday (February 17th) Pope Francis’ message for this year’s Lent entitled “Fasting Asceticism, Path of the Synod” was published.
The Pope recalled that “the Gospel of the Transfiguration is proclaimed every year on the second Sunday of Lent”. “During this liturgical season, the Lord takes us and separates us. Although our usual commitments call us to stay in our usual places and to live a routine that is often repetitive and sometimes boring, during Lent we are invited to rise “to a high mountain” together with Jesus to live a special experience of asceticism with the holy people of God,” the Pope emphasizes.
Lent asceticism and synodal experience
“The asceticism of Lent is a commitment always inspired by grace to overcome our lack of faith and our resistance to following Jesus on the way of the Cross. What Peter and the other disciples needed.”
“In order to deepen our knowledge of the Master, we must allow ourselves to be separated from Him and led to the heights and to break with mediocrity and vanity. You have to embark on a path, an uphill path that requires effort, sacrifice and concentration, like a hike in the mountains.”
“These requirements are also important for the synodal path to which we as a church have committed ourselves,” emphasizes the Pope, inviting reflection on the relationship between “The asceticism of Lent and the synodal experience“.
Reflecting on “the ascent of Jesus and the disciples to Mount Tabor, we can say that our fasting path is “synodal” because we walk it together on the same path, disciples of the one Master. We know that he himself is the way, and that is why the Church, both on the liturgical way and on the synodal way, does nothing but enter ever more deeply and fully into the mystery of Christ the Redeemer.
When Jesus reached Mount Tabor, “he was transfigured before them: his face shone like the sun, and his clothes white as light”. “Here appears the ‘summit’, the goal of the path. At the end of the ascent, and while they are with Jesus at the top of the mountain, the three disciples receive the grace of seeing him in his glory, radiant with supernatural light that is not came from without, but emanated from himself. The divine beauty of this vision proved incomparably superior to any weariness the disciples might have felt as they went up to Tabor. Often even the synodal process is arduous, and at times we can even discouraged; but what awaits us at the end is undoubtedly something wonderful and surprising, which will help us to better understand God’s will and our mission in the service of his kingdom,” emphasizes Francisco.
The synodal path is rooted in the tradition of the Church
According to the Pope, “the experience of the disciples on Mount Tabor will be even more enriching when Moses and Elijah, personifying the law and the prophets respectively, appear alongside the transfigured Jesus. The newness of Christ is the fulfillment of the old covenant and promises; it is inseparable from the history of God with his people and reveals its profound meaning”.
“Similarly, the synodal path is rooted in the tradition of the Church and at the same time open to new ideas. Tradition is a source of inspiration to search for new paths and avoid the contradictory temptations of immobility and improvised experimentation. The ascetic path of Lent, like the synodal path, aims at personal and ecclesial transfiguration. A transformation that in both cases finds its model in Jesus and is effected by the grace of his Paschal Mystery.”
In order for this Transfiguration to take place in us this year, the Pope has proposed two “Ways” which must be traversed “to ascend with Jesus and to reach the goal with him”.
Lent is approaching Easter
The first way “concerns the command that God the Father addresses to the disciples on Tabor as they contemplate the transfigured Jesus. The voice from the cloud says: “Listen to him”. stop jesus Lent is a time of grace in that we listen to those who speak to us”. Therefore, let us listen to Jesus “in the Word of God that the Church offers us in the liturgy: Let us not let it fall into a torn sack; if we can’t always go to mass, let’s at least read the biblical readings for each day, even with the help of the Internet,” emphasizes Francisco.
In addition to the Scriptures The Lord also speaks to us in the brethren, “especially in the faces and vicissitudes of those who need help”.the Pope emphasizes, adding another aspect, “very important in the synodal process: listening to Christ also goes through listening to the brothers and sisters in the Church; at some stages, this mutual listening is the main goal, but it always remains indispensable in Method and Style of a Synodal Church”.
The second path to be followed in this Lent is that of “not to take refuge in a religiosity made up of extraordinary events, suggestive experiences, driven by the fear of facing reality with its daily hardships, hardships and contradictions. The light that Jesus shows his disciples is a foretaste of Easter glory, and for that it is necessary to “follow only Jesus and no other”. Lent is approaching Easter: The “retreat” is not an end in itself, but prepares us to live with faith, hope and love the Passion and the Cross in order to reach the Resurrection”.
“Dear brothers and sisters, may the Holy Spirit encourage us during this Lent to ascend with Jesus, to experience his divine splendor and thus, strengthened in faith, to continue our walk with him, glory of his people and light of the nations,” he concludes: Francis.