1) To know
“The freedom It is the instrument that put God in the hands of man so that he can realize his destiny” (Emilio Castelar). This Lent he Pope Francisco wrote his message with the motto: “Through the desert God guides us to the freedom”. Just as he freed the Jews from their slavery in Egypt and they walked through the desert for 40 years to enter the promised land. With the baptism Our liberation began, but we still have slavery: lies, pride, hopelessness… and God wants to free us.
2) To think
The freedom that won us Jesus, it is not lost. This is testified by Sister Gloria Nárvaez, a Colombian nun who was kidnapped in 2017, in Mali. She served in the catechesis and promotion of women. The nun recalled that when they took her away, they put a chain around her neck with an explosive. She was kidnapped for almost five years by jihadists, and she assured: “although they were difficult years, I can say with certainty that my spirit was not kidnapped. My faith and hope sustained me… I felt embraced by God. I used to draw a chalice in the sand, but my captors would get angry and erase it with their feet. I invoked my guardian angel; On his knees he joined my hands and called with great love the sweet name of Mary. He prayed the Rosary collecting pebbles; although there were snakes and ants outside.”
In the strong storms, Gloria prayed in her tent. Only her tent remained standing, all the others destroyed. Her captors insulted her to make her become a Muslim, but she was firm: “Jesus Christ is everything to me and I will never renounce Him.” She prayed for them and remembered Saint Francis: “If they whip you, bless them and let no one leave without seeing mercy in your eyes.” Now Gloria invites forgive and sow peace.
3) To live
Pharaoh wanted slaves, but God wants children. He created us free, to love him freely. If we lose it by sinning, he gives it back to us in Confession, he does not get tired of us. Prayer, almsgiving and fasting free us from attachments. It is a time of happy faces with the fragrance of freedom to love God and the needy.
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