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Our fasting is intimately united with the other pillars of Lent: with the prayer that we are so eager to throw ourselves into, and with the almsgiving, the mercy that we are so eager to spread.
Take courage this Monday morning. Take courage that Christ's work, already well underway, is powerful within you.
We all need to be reminded during our Lenten fasting and penance just how good God is, and what joy comes with taking refuge in Him.
Remember, your is united with the whole universal church, which is doing penance right now as we prepare to receive the gifts that God has prepared for us. And it is united with Christ's Passion.
What is "fear of the Lord"? For us, the fear of God consists wholly in love, and perfect love of God brings our fear of Him to its perfection.
When we fast, we increase the capacity of our souls to be generous with others. We increase the capacity of our souls to share the goods that we have received from God.
We are like the prodigal son in that beautiful Gospel parable. And our Lenten observance is our return to the Father like prodigal children, confident that there's going to be a fatted calf and a ring and a magnificent garment for us to wear--that there is going to be reconciliation.
Every contour of our life, every struggle of our life, every difficulty in our Lenten observance is united with our blessed savior.
Saint John Chrysostom tells us the Israelites were free were freed from slavery to a pagan people. You have been freed from much greater slavery to sin.
The church believes that Christ died and rose for all. His is the only name under heaven in which men can be saved.
On Fridays of Lent, we encourage you to attend the Stations of the Cross.
It's one thing to love our friends and those who are close to us, those who are good to us, but it is really an imitation of Christ that we learn how to love our enemies.
Lent is a great opportunity for us to remember that we are that lost sheep: we repent of our sins and we strive to return some measure of love in our penances and in our fasting.