What is Lent?
Lent is the penitential season of approximately 40 days set aside by the Church in order for the faithful to prepare for the celebration of the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. His victory is our renewal, our “spring” — which is the meaning of the Anglo-Saxon word, “Lengten” or Lent. In this penitential season we have the opportunity to make an annual spiritual “tune-up”, a 40-day retreat with Our Lord.
Focusing on the idea of being a pilgrim Church on a constant journey of conversion, Pope’s message for Lent 2025 is entitled “Let us journey together in hope” and is divided into three parts.
The first part of the Holy Father’s reflection encourages Catholics to begin the journey while evoking the motto of this Jubilee year, “Pilgrims of Hope”. He reflects on the pilgrimage of the Israelites in Exodus, who were brought from slavery to freedom – a point that shares similarities with his 2024 Lenten reflection entitled “Through the desert God leads us to freedom”. The Pope also asks Catholics to examine their lives and consider whether they reflect the reality that life is a pilgrimage. One practical suggestion he makes, showing his characteristic concern for those on the margins of society, is to “compare our daily life with that of some migrant or foreigner, to learn how to sympathise with their experiences and in this way discover what God is asking of us so that we can better advance on our journey to the house of the Father”.
The second part – perhaps in response to the deep divisions in the Church today – emphasises the importance of walking together in faith, highlighting the Church’s call to synodal unity. He urges Christians to promote unity, listen to one another, resist self-centredness and reflect on whether “we make others feel a part of the community or keep them at a distance”.
Finally, invoking the transformative power of hope, Pope Francis calls for a renewed trust in God’s promise of eternal life. Quoting Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 encyclical Spe Salvi, the Pope reflects on the necessity of this assurance: “The human being needs unconditional love. He needs the certainty which makes him say: ‘Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Rom 8:38-39).” He then asks Christians to be convinced of the Lord’s forgiveness of sins and to pray for “everyone to be saved”.
The Holy Father finishes by imploring the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, asking: “May the Virgin Mary, Mother of Hope, intercede for us and accompany us on our Lenten journey.”
