Today, the 3rd Sunday of Lent, I look back and reread the reflection of our Holy Father, Pope Francis on Ash Wednesday (February 27,2021).

(Excerpt) “LENT is a humble descent both inwards and towards others. It is about realizing that salvation is not an ascent to glory, but a descent to love. It is about becoming little. Lest we go astray in our journey, let us stand before the cross of Jesus: the silent throne of God. Let us daily contemplate his wounds, the wounds that he brought to heaven and shows daily to the Father in his prayer of intercession.

Let us daily contemplate those wounds. In them, we recognize our emptiness, our shortcomings, the wounds of our sin and all the hurts we have experienced. Yet there too, we see clearly that God points his finger at no one, but rather opens his arms to embrace us. His wounds were inflicted for our sake, and by those wounds we have been healed. By kissing those wounds, we will come to realize that there, in life’s most painful wounds, God awaits us with his infinite mercy. Because there, where we are most vulnerable, where we feel the most shame, he came to meet us. And having come to meet us, he now invites us to return to him , to rediscover the joy of being loved.”