Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Benedict XVI has encouraged Catholics to join with Christ in ‘spiritual combat’ during Lent, while telling the thousands gathered at his Sunday Angelus that sin is a ‘reality of life.’

Speaking at St Peter’s Square, on the First Sunday of Lent, the Pope said that the 40 days of Lent constitute a time of spiritual preparation for Easter, of following Jesus to the ‘culmination of His mission of salvation’ in His death on the Cross.

Lent and the Cross exist ‘because evil exists,’ the Pope said. And although many do not accept the term ‘sin’ for offering a religious vision of the world and humanity, sin is ‘the profound cause of every evil,’ the Pope went on to explain.

“In fact, if it is true: if God is eliminated from the horizons of the world, one can no longer speak of sin,” the Holy Father said.

Attitude to sin

He went on to explain that the attitude of God is to oppose the sin while saving the sinner.

“God does not tolerate evil, because He is love, justice and fidelity—and precisely for this He does not want the death of the sinner, but that He may repent and live,” the Pope said.

He observed that God’s saving intervention in human history has been evident from the time of the ancient Jews’ liberation from slavery in Egypt.

“God is determined to liberate His children from slavery, to guide them to freedom.” the Pope said. “And the most serious and most profound slavery is precisely that of sin. For this, God sent His son to the world: to liberate men from the dominion of Satan, ‘origin and cause of every sin.’

“He sent Him in our mortal flesh so that He might become a victim of expiation, dying for us on the Cross.

“Against this plan of definitive and universal salvation, the devil is opposed with all his strength, as demonstrated particularly in the Gospel of the temptation of Jesus in the desert, which is proclaimed every year on the first Sunday of Lent,” the Pope added.

“In fact, entering into this Liturgical time means aligning oneself with Christ every time against sin—facing, both as individuals and the Church, the spiritual combat against the spirit of evil.”

Praying with the Pope

Despite the heavy rain, thousands of pilgrims gathered at St Peter’s Square to pray with Pope Benedict on the first Sunday of Lent.

In his earlier released message for the beginning of Lent the Holy Father reminded the Catholic Faithful that ‘we must share in Christ’s death in order to share in His Resurrection’ while on Sunday he asked for special prayer for himself and members of the Roman Curia as they begin their Lenten retreat.

The March 13-19 exercises are being led by Carmelite theologian and professor, Fr Francois-Marie Lethel, on the theme: The Light of Christ in the Heart of the Church-John Paul II and the Theology of the Saints.