Lent 2015

Let us welcome this Lenten Season with  open heart and mind. It is the time of renewal and we all need time out and recharging. May be a time to wake up. We need to begin again and review our lives objectively. In all the areas of our lives there is every possibility for growth and change.

Call of our Pope Francis is to pay attention to the following:

“One of the most urgent challenges which I would like to address in this Message is precisely the globalization of indifference. Indifference to our neighbour and to God also represents a real temptation for us Christians. Each year during Lent we need to hear once more the voice of the prophets who cry out and trouble our conscience. God is not indifferent to our world; he so loves it that he gave his Son for our salvation. In the Incarnation, in the earthly life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God, the gate between God and man, between heaven and earth, opens once for all. The Church is like the hand holding open this gate, thanks to her proclamation of God’s word, her celebration of the sacraments and her witness of the faith which works through love (cf. Gal 5:6). But the world tends to withdraw into itself and shut that door through which God comes into the world and the world comes to him. Hence the hand, which is the Church, must never be surprised if it is rejected, crushed and wounded. God’s people, then, need this interior renewal, lest we become indifferent and withdraw into ourselves.”

Our response could be:

-Halt from our hectic activities to find time to pray to the Creator God and then find time to meditate in silence which can lead to inspirations and bring love as a response to deal with indifference. This inspiration may lead us to have new approach towards our Capuchin living and identifying the areas in which we need to change to be more relevant today. Every renewal has its starting point here.

-Universal Prayer Initiative: 

-Join universally with our Pope on 13-14^th March 2015 for the 24 hours for the Lord throughout the church. We as Capuchins could respond effectively participating in this prayer fellowship throughout the world. And formators could encourage our formees to enthusiastically participate in this and experience God. In prayer we are going to be inspired by God.

-Lent could also be the time to identify the unhealed core-issues of life and get healed of their negative memories so that we will be able to relate in a better way.

-Work for the ‘formation of the heart’ by being open to God as inspired by the former Pope Benedict XVI creating Islands of mercy and love amidst the sea of indifference. If our friaries could transmit love, grace and joy we will flourish further.

Few Questions for our soul-searching:

Do I have a prayer list to pray for?

Am I living a meaningful life and what is that I (we) need to change?

Have I met the poor or needy of my locality where I live this week?

What is my Lenten plan (with Prayer-Penance & Charity)?

Prayer Request from SGF:

-Pray for our Pope Francis, 

-Br. Mauro our General & his Councilors

-Pray for the Ratio Initiatves of our Secretariat & the Formative courses we conduct around the world.

With Best wishes

Brs. Charles Alphonse & Jaime Rey Ofm Cap.,

Segretariato Generale della Formazione

Curia Generale OFMCap, Via Piemonte 70,

00187 Roma,  Italia
Mob: +39 366 8050 983, +39 334 775 2715

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Email: charlesalph@gmail.com, jrescapa@gmail.com
Skype: charlesalph, jaime
Blog: http://sgfofmcap-en.blogspot.it/

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