Beloved friends, and co-laborers in the Vineyard, grace and peace to you all!
Tonight, as the sun sets, we close out this first portion of Ordinary Time and prepare for our Lenten journey. I wanted to take a moment to write to you to share my heart as we enter these solemn days.
The essence of the Gospel message is one of Divine Mercy. The very God who fashioned every quark, atom, and molecule that has or will ever exist took such care and compassion of his creation, that in the fullness of time he entered into the life of his creation, that we might be delivered from the first curse and returned to the blessedness that was and is our inheritance as the children of God. This deep mercy required God the Son to become both High Priest and Perfect Victim, and in walking these dual roles to the cross, the grave, and the sky, we have been given the courage to approach the Father tenderly, in the power of the Spirit, crying out "Abba" with full trust and perfect confidence.
And yet, our trust can be tenuous, and our confidence quite imperfect. And when we are such, we often feel discouraged or hopeless. Lent is a perfect time for us to remember that we should never surrender our hope.
I call on each of you to, first and foremost, find the power of God's hope at work in your life... and second, to encourage those entrusted to your care to approach the Father tenderly, in the power of the Spirit, knowing that they are deeply loved. During these days, whatever our role in Christ's Church, may our ongoing work of refinement and drawing closer to Christ be a priority for each of us and for those we serve, that at least our little corner of the world might be touched with some new, bright, and amazing aspect of God's love.
Finally, I call on each of you - and those you serve - to hear the Gospel and to repent. For my part, I acknowledge to you that I have failed, sinned, and fallen short of the mark. I ask your forgiveness for any ways I may have hurt you. In turn, I ask you to make this same recognition that your service might be rooted in honesty, humility, and in the mercy that God alone can bestow.
With my prayers for your Lenten journey, I remain your servant,
