#favorabletime

Lent is a favorable time in which the Lord our God gives us the strength and the ability to return to Him according to His Divine Will. As we continue our Lenten preparation for Easter, nothing should distract us from what's important, that is, from living with Jesus Christ and allowing Him to sanctify us with his presence and through the Sacraments. The Church insists, as the Bible teaches, that the best way to open up to God's Grace is through prayer, charitable deeds, and fasting. As faithful, without turning away from Christ, now that our attention is directed towards the coming conclave, we find ourselves with one more reason to pray and to fast: the future Pope.

The conclave has the attention not only of the faithful but also of many non-Catholics and many ex-Catholics, particularly in the media. These days of Lent, therefore, are also a favorable time to evangelize persons that are far from the Church as they might begin to ask us questions regarding our faith and might become interested in the Body of Christ. Such a situation calls for our availability to witness to the Truth and witness to the Love that God offers to everyone in the world through the Church. Let us also pray then that we might receive the courage and the love to introduce Christ to others through our explanations regarding our faith and our discussions regarding the future of the Catholic Church.

On this time, in these days, let us keep in our hearts the words of St. Paul that we read in the First Vespers of this Sunday, read at the beginning of the Lenten Journey. This apostle of Christ writes, "Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We cause no one to stumble in anything, in order that no fault may be found with our ministry; on the contrary, in everything we commend ourselves as ministers of God" (2 Cor 6:2-4). We do everything for the glory of God.

The initiative to pray for cardinals is very fitting at this point. I am therefore amazed and happy with the "Adopt a Cardinal" idea. For those of you that are not yet familiar with this idea, this is a website that offers you in prayer one cardinal who will be part of the conclave so that you spend the following weeks praying for him. In this way you can adopt a cardinal to offer prayers so that the Holy Spirit guides him. I have been assigned Cardinal Joao from Brazil. To adopt a cardinal click here.