Pope Francis urged Christians to examine their consciences in Lent by comparing their daily lives to the hardships faced by migrants, calling it a way to grow in empathy and discover God’s call to compassion.
‘It would be a good Lenten exercise for us 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 Pope wrote in his message for Lent 2025.
The message, signed 6 February, before the Pope was hospitalised on 14 February for treatment of double pneumonia, was released by the Vatican on 25 Feburary.
Am I really on a journey, or am I standing still, not moving, either immobilised by fear and hopelessness or reluctant to move out of my comfort zone?’
Reflecting on the theme ‘Let us journey together in hope,’ the Pope said that Lent is a time to confront both personal and collective struggles with faith and compassion.
Comparing the Lenten journey to the Israelites’ exodus from slavery in Egypt, he recalled ‘our brothers and sisters who in our own day are fleeing situations of misery and violence in search of a better life for themselves and their loved ones.’
‘A first call to conversion thus comes from the realisation that all of us are pilgrims in this life,’ he wrote. ‘Am I really on a journey, or am I standing still, not moving, either immobilised by fear and hopelessness or reluctant to move out of my comfort zone?’
Pope Francis also emphasised the importance of journeying together, saying Christians are called to walk ‘side by side, without shoving or stepping on others, without envy or hypocrisy, without letting anyone be left behind or excluded’.
Christians, he said, should reflect on whether they are open to others or focused only on their own needs.
Christ lives and reigns in glory. Death has been transformed into triumph, and the faith and great hope of Christians rests in this: the resurrection of Christ!
The Pope called on Christians to journey together in hope towards Easter, living out the central message of the Jubilee Year: ‘Hope does not disappoint.’
Another Lenten call to conversion, he said, is to embrace hope and trust in God’s promise of eternal life, made possible through Christ’s resurrection.
Pope Francis encouraged Christians to consider whether they truly live in a way that reflects hope, trusting in God’s promise of eternal life, seeking forgiveness and committing themselves to justice, fraternity and care for creation.
‘Christ,’ he wrote, ‘lives and reigns in glory. Death has been transformed into triumph, and the faith and great hope of Christians rests in this: the resurrection of Christ!’
Banner image: Pope Francis shares a moment of silence with members of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops as they pray for migrants and refugees in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican on 19 October 2023. Behind the pope is ‘Angels Unawares’, a sculpture by Canadian Timothy Schmalz, depicting a boat with 140 figures of migrants from various historical periods and various nations. (Photo: CNS/Lola Gomez.)
