Lent , the New Evangelization, and Pope Francis

It is Lent. We are walking in the desert with Jesus. We are in the middle of the desert, watching him move closer and closer to his ministry and ultimately to his passion and death followed by the resurrection.  Despite the suffering our sweet Jesus went through for us we carry inside of us a quiet, sometimes hidden, joy. A joy that knows about the resurrection. A joy that has been very hidden for quite some time, but it is there.

This weekend I learned that two thirds of the world's population still does not know Jesus. They are still walking in the desert of their own lives, thinking perhaps that they are alone. All alone. Jesus is with them and they do not know it !  We have to tell them !

It is our baptismal call to evangelize and witness to others. God is calling us today, this very day, March 17, 2013, and all the days in the future, to do our best to bring the new evangelization to the world.

Now we have a great new helper to do this work - POPE FRANCIS ! Isn't that awesome?  I don't know about you, but Pope Francis has given me so much more hope for our Catholic future! All of a sudden, things don't look so bleak and I feel we can handle anything that comes against the church now because the Holy Spirit has heard our cries for help and has sent us Pope Francis.

I have been quite despondent prior to Pope Francis coming into our lives. In my area, the church has seemed so depressed - like a big heavy wet cloud hanging over us. But now, Pope Francis, chosen by the work and power of the Holy Spirit, has been given to us, and the cloud is starting to disipate.

I hope all of our priests are encouraged by this as well because they too need a strong, joyful leader. Even our priests have looked so burdened and sad and now....now....the wind of the Holy Spirit is blowing around the globe and I feel like the new evangelization will really take off now.

Yes, we are walking in the desert with Jesus. Lent is still here, but can you also see the oasis in the distance? Can you see that soon the suffering will be over and Easter will be here?

I can.