Pope Francis’ Message for Lent 2024 has the theme “Through the desert God leads us to Freedom”.
The theme is inspired by the passage from the Book of Exodus, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, our of the house of slavery.” (Ex 20:1-17)
The Holy Father emphasizes that it is time to act, and in Lent to act also means to pause. To pause in prayer, in order to receive the word of God, to pause like the Samaritan in the presence of a wounded brother or sister" because "love of God and love of neighbour are one love".
The invitation consists, then, of "to pause in the presence of God beside the flesh of our neighbour. For this reason, prayer, almsgiving, and fasting are not three unrelated acts, but a single movement of openness and self-emptying”, and he adds that "to the extent that this Lent becomes a time of conversion, an anxious humanity will notice a burst of creativity, a flash of new hope".
Referring to the synodal journey in the Church, Pope Francis suggests that Lent is also "a time of communitarian decisions, of decisions, small and large, that are counter-current," that change people's daily lives, such as, "the ways we acquire goods, care for creation, and strive to include those who go unseen or are looked down upon".
"I invite every Christian community to do just this: to offer its members moments set aside to rethink their lifestyles, to evaluate and improve their contribution to society”, the Pope writes.
Finally, the Holy Father launches an invitation to live the "courage of conversion" with an appeal he addressed to young people during WYD in Lisbon: "Keep seeking and be ready to take risks. At this moment in time, we face enormous risks; we hear the painful plea of so many people. Indeed, we are experiencing a third world war fought piecemeal. Yet let us find the courage to see our world, not as being in its death throes but in a process of giving birth, not at the end but at the beginning of a great new chapter of history. We need courage to think like this.
“Such is the courage of conversion, born of coming up from slavery. For faith and charity take hope, this small child, by the hand”, he concludes.
Pope Francis’ Lenten Message in full here.