MONSIGNOR SAIZ: LENT IS A TIME OF CONVERSION, OF PUTTING GOD AT THE CENTER OF OUR LIVES

Yesterday afternoon, on Ash Wednesday, the Archbishop of Seville, Monsignor Saiz Meneses, presided over the solemn commencement of Lent in a Eucharist filled with symbolism. In his homily, the Archbishop alluded to the words of Pope Francis, in which he recounts that “Lent is a time to take action, and taking is also slowing down, making a stop along the way, freeing ourselves from worries and burdens that make it more difficult to reflect and to encounter God, within oneself and with our neighbors”

Similarly, he referred to the Church that during this season “invites the intensification of prayer and fasting; togetherness, recuperating and rediscovering the contemplative dimension to life”

He also recalled that Lent is a time of separation from the material consumerism in which modern society is immersed and which is indispensable. He reminded us that “if we center our lives around God and He is the treasure that fills my existence, I cease to need so many things because He quenches my thirst for joy”

The ceremony was followed by a crowd of believers who came to the Cathedral and those who followed via livestream from their homes and hospitals.