Pope Benedict XVI today poetically explained the Ritual of Ash Wednesday Ashes at his general audience. He also firmly explained conversion and how Lent is a time to discipline oneself to convert. Believing is one thing. Acting it out is another, a true conversion away from the evil of moral relativism.
This is a great message to begin the holiest of seasons, Lent. The discipline it asks for prepares us for the greatest love of all, our Lord Jesus Christ’s sacrifice — his death on a cross — and Resurrection for our salvation. It’s a message that prepares us to make Lent a season that truly draws us closer to Him.
The Holy Father said:
Conversion is to go against the flow, where the “flow” is a lifestyle that is superficial, incoherent and illusory, which often drags us in, dominates us and makes us slaves of evil or at least prisoners of moral mediocrity.
Pope Benedict asks us to convert ourselves during Lent. Doing so makes us “A precious dust for God.”
