Today 17th of February 2021 is the day the church set aside to start our journey toward Easter, Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Lenten season is a special season for Christians especially Catholics. A season of cleansing, a season of rewarding of what we have done, a season of joy to other people. When everybody is behaving, then everybody is happy.

It is actually a season of training or re-training or reviewing, so that we may act in the way of the Lord. The scripture says “Let your hearts be broken, not your garments”. During this season, you are called to pray, to fast and to give alms. In other words, to be charitable to the needy during this season

Ash Wednesday is the day to remember that we have to be repentant. Repentance is always necessary. We repent of our old ways, things we have done badly, the way we have offended God and human beings, to turn away from our sins and focus in God.

Ash Wednesday is a day set apart to begin a special journey towards Easter. Every day of Lent is a day of repentance and rethinking of how we are going to spend the whole time. Our time is short. We will say that it is 40days. But 40days is just a short time, so let us not waste any bit of it. Let us spend everyday thinking about what we are doing, renewing our ways of life, being charitable, forgiving other people and f course, praying and praying and praying and fasting.

When we say fasting, we think of food and drinks, they are all involved. But, fasting that has meaning id the one that goes with all perseverance, with friendship, with almsgiving, with repentance, with good behavior and loving others the way we love ourselves.

So, Lent is a way of looking at ourselves. How can we improve our ways of life as Christians? How can we make others to repent too by looking at us? How can we mentor other people who have weak faith, without even shouting, without using any words, only if it is necessary we may use words, but action is what we need to go with the Lord in this journey to see how we can improve, how we can update ourselves, how we can renew our minds, our faith and we can tell God that we are ready to be His own now and forever.

The Lord has been good to us in many ways. Sometimes we say how we repay the Lord. We cannot even repay the Lord. When we say we repay the Lord, we are repaying ourselves. Because whatever we do that is good, we gain from it, not God.

Therefore, let us use this season of Lent to do the best we can to reach others, especially the poor, the needy and turn away from evil ways to doing good with all that, God will bless us and accept our offerings through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Gabriel Leke Abegunrin

Archbishop of Ibadan