Askeonsdagsseremonien i Roma i går begynte som vanlig med bønn ved kirken Sant’Anselmo all’Aventino. Deretter gikk paven, sammen med de geistilge og folket, i en botsprosesjon til kirken Santa Sabina.
I sin preken la pave Benedikt spesiell vekt på a phrase from the second Letter to the Corinthians: «We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.» (5:20). » Paul,» he commented, «experienced in an extraordinary manner the power of God’s grace, the grace of the Paschal mystery that is the vital force of Lent itself. He presents himself to us as an ‘ambassador’ of the Lord. Who better than him, then, to help us travel in a fruitful way this path of interior conversion?
Following the example of St. Paul, Lent should be marked by a more frequent listening to the word of God, «by more intense prayer, by an austere and penitential style of life, it should be an encouragement to conversion and sincere love for our brothers, especially those who are most poor and in need.» In the Pauline Year, the life of the Apostle of the Gentiles was offered by Benedict XVI as a model of how the Christian should live Lent.
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