The Lenten season reminds us...

"The Lenten Season...reminds us that in our Christian life we must always aspire to conversion and that when we receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation frequently the desire for Gospel perfection is kept alive in believers.... It is not sin which is at the heart of it but rather God's mercy, which is infinitely greater than any guilt of ours." Pope Benedict XVI

Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year B

"In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added infidelity to infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the Lord's temple which he had consecrated in Jerusalem. Early and often did the Lord, the God of their fathers, send his messengers to them, for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets, until the anger of the Lord against his people was so inflamed that there was no remedy." 2 Chronicles 36:14-16

Father…you never cease to call us to a new and more abundant life. God of love and mercy, you are always ready to forgive; we are sinners, and you invite us to trust in your mercy. Time and time again we broke your covenant, but you did not abandon us. Instead, through your Son, Jesus our Lord, you bound yourself even more closely to the human family by a bond that can never be broken…. When we were lost and could not find the way to you, you loved us more than ever. Jesus, your son, innocent and without sin, gave himself into our hands and was nailed to a cross… Eucharistic Prayer for Masses of Reconciliation I

"For God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16