"Lent reminds us that Christian life is an endless fight whose weapons are prayer, fasting and penance. Fighting against evil, against all forms of selfishness and hatred, and dying to oneself in order to live in God, is the ascetic walk that every one of Jesus’s apostles are called to cover with humbleness and patience, with generosity and perseverance". This was said this afternoon by Benedict XVI in the basilica of Santa Sabina all’Aventino, on the occasion of Ash Wednesday. "By meekly following the godly Master, Christians become the witnesses and the apostles of peace", added the Pope, who also specified how Christians should respond to the violence that threatens peace across the world: "Certainly not with revenge, not with hatred and not by escaping into a false spiritualism. The response of Christ’s followers is instead to tread the way chosen by He who, in front of the evils of His time and of all times, firmly embraced the Cross, walking the longer but more effective path of love. In His footsteps and joined with Him, we all have to work hard to fight evil with good, falsehood with truth, hatred with love". Even the laying of the Ash is not a "mere ritualism", but "something very deep, which touches our hearts", making us understand that "outer gestures must always be matched by the sincerity of one’s soul and the consistency of one’s works". (to be continued)
