Archbishop Chaput Offers a Thought For Lent

"Ash Wednesday begins the Catholic season of Lent, a time of examining our consciences, confessing and repenting our sins, and working to change the direction of our lives back toward God through prayer, self-sacrifice, and charitable acts to others.

"All of us have personal ways of doing that. A friend of mine has the habit every Lent of listening to an audio version of Dante Alighieri's 14th century Divine Comedy from start to finish. The Comedy - Dante's imagined journey into the pit of hell (Inferno), then up through purgatory (Purgatorio) to heaven and the beatific vision (Paradiso) - is one of the great achievements of Western civilization. . . .

"As Dante saw clearly, anyone who imagines that God's love and mercy somehow exclude his justice needs to think again. This is why Lent is so important. It's the season in Church life that calls us to discipline our appetites, put aside our excuses, and take an honest look at the state of our souls."

In a recent commentary, Archbishop Charles Chaput, of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, reflected on ways we can examine our lives during this holy season. He concludes with a reminder that we are "in the world as agents of God's love and joy" and that we "need to live in a way that honors each other, and honors the mission of the Church - because in us and through our actions, both individually and as a community of faith, the outside world will judge the Gospel we claim to believe."

To access Archbishop Chaput's complete column, please visit:

Archdiocese of Philadelphia: Archbishop Chaput’s Weekly Column: A Thought For Lent 2019 (6 MAR 19)