Pope Benedict on Lent

The Holy Father, in his general audience on Ash Wednesday, said that Lent is a time for conversion and not self realization. Conversion, he said, is not a one-time thing, but a life-long journey to Christ.

Lent is an appropriate spiritual moment to train ourselves more earnestly to seek God, opening our hearts to Christ. (Conversion) is not an effort of self-realization. Self-realization is a contradiction, and it is too little for us. We have a higher destiny. Conversion consists precisely in not thinking that one is the 'creator' of oneself, and thus discovering the truth.

This is important for us to remember, especially in the U.S. We are so programed to think that we are in total control of our own destinies and that we are the highest form of existance that we tend to forget God.

Let this Lent be for us, a time of turning toward our Creator in humble adoration and asking for His will to be done in our lives.