The season of Lent seems like a time of penance, and indeed it is.
Lent began with Ash Wednesday, with obligatory fasting and abstinence.
Dark purple vestments are worn, and there is the emphasis on prayer and penance, as well as the call to conversion and repentance.
Lent may seem rather gloomy, but when we look at it with the eyes of love, then we know that Lent is truly a season of grace and a holy season.
Because the season of Lent brings us back to the origins of why God created us and why Jesus came and what He did for us.
The 1st reading sums up the purpose and direction of Lent as it urges us to come back to the Lord.
The Lord will take away our iniquity. He loves us with all His heart.
Yes, Lent is a time when God shows us how much He loves us.
May we come to love God with all our heart, with all our understanding and strength, and to love our neighbour as ourself.
May we be wise and intelligent to understand these words and to grasp their meaning.
And we will do fasting and penance with rejoicing and gladness.