If one single word is used to describe the foundation upon which the whole Christian life is based, it is HOPE. Hope is the main theme running throughout the heart of the Bible, from Genesis down to Revelation.

Last year I had finished a school Mass and after these Masses I always stand at the Church entrance and say goodbye to the pupils as they leave the Church, reflects Fr Clement Baffoe SVD. On this particular day, a prep student who was with his mother asked me an important question. The little boy looked at my face when leaving the Church and asked: “Are you Jesus?” I hastily replied: No! But Jesus is my friend. Both the mother and I had a laugh and they left.

The boy's question left me with many questions than answers. What has the little boy heard about Jesus? What did he see in me to then ask if I was Jesus? Is the boy searching for Jesus? And perhaps for the boy, who is this Jesus he’s been told about?

Today is the First Sunday of Lent, and  today’s Gospel is taken from the opening of  Matthew, chapter 4.  We hear the well known, dramatic story of Jesus’ temptations in the desert which takes place before he begins his public ministry.

Suffering and tragedy are things that we don’t want to reflect on or think too much about because of the pain that it brings into our lives. If we look at the world today, there are so many natural and human made disasters.

Today we are invited to reflect upon the Transfiguration of Jesus. Jesus takes Peter, James and John up the mountain to pray and when he was at prayer he is transfigured.

This Sunday the 6^th of March, the Universal Church enters the sacred time of Lent. Marked by the celebration of Ash Wednesday, we are reminded both by tradition and Gospel that this is a sacred time, a penitential time, to consider the beauty of humanity in God’s creation, but also to remember the limitations we have as human beings.

As I write this message, we have just received news that Russia has begun attacking its neighbour, Ukraine with military force.

We, in the SVD AUS Province, pray for the people of Ukraine and the whole world as a period of great instability stretches before us and we join in Pope Francis’ call for a day of prayer and fasting for Ukraine on Ash Wednesday, March 2.

As a young altar server, I loved Palm Sunday. There would be a large group of us servers, all dressed in a red cassock and surplice, and we were given a palm to wave. 

We have reached the mid-point of our Lenten journey, a holy penitential season. This Sunday, we celebrate “Laetare Sunday.”

In his Lenten Message this year, Pope Francis urged us to “… experience Lent with love”.

He was referring specifically to caring for those affected by the Coronavirus, but it’s a great invitation for us all to really enter into the season in a positive and meaningful way.