CV NEWS FEED // Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, is encouraging the faithful to open their hearts to conversion and embrace the season of spiritual transformation this Lent.
“Lent is a time to refocus our lives,” “to reboot our life of prayer and to rekindle our fervor for the Lord,” Bishop Conley wrote in a March 14 article of the Southern Nebraska Register.
Bishop Conley implored the faithful to continually pursue a relationship with Jesus, emphasizing that conversion of heart is a call from the Lord at every stage of life.
“We are constantly being called to deeper conversion,” Bishop Conley wrote, “to deeper friendship with Jesus, to deeper trust in the mercy and love of our Father in heaven and to a deeper docility to the action of the Holy Spirit.”
The bishop noted the importance of welcoming new Catholics into the Church this Easter and beyond.
“If the surveys are true, it is sad that nearly 50% of Catholics who are received into the Catholic Church leave after a few years,” Bishop Conley wrote.
The bishop also noted the importance of welcoming new Catholics into the parish community and providing them with ongoing support and friendships after their reception into full communion.
Bishop Conley notes that St. Leo the Great articulates well in a Lenten sermon shared in the Office of Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours for the Thursday following Ash Wednesday the call to all people for continuous conversion of heart.
“He proclaims that the Church rejoices: ‘in the forgiveness of sin not only of those who are reborn in holy baptism (at the Easter Vigil) but also those who are already numbered among God’s adopted children,’” Bishop Conley stated. “He goes on to say that ‘all must therefore strive to ensure that on the day of redemption no one may be found in the sins of his former life.’”
This Lent, Bishop Conley urged the faithful to conform themselves to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, encouraging them to look to the example the Lord has given.
“Jesus has shown us The Way,” Bishop Conley wrote, “It’s now up to us to ‘write’ our own ongoing faith stories and share those stories with the world through the lives we lead.”
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