ROME — Pope Francis has called on Christians to uproot evil from their lives this Lent, including the addiction to digital media that “impoverishes human relationships.”
“Let us not grow tired of uprooting evil from our lives,” the pontiff said Thursday in his message for the Lenten season 2022, which begins next Wednesday. “May the corporal fasting to which Lent calls us fortify our spirit for the battle against sin.”
“Let us not grow tired of asking for forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, knowing that God never tires of forgiving,” he continued. “Let us not grow tired of fighting against concupiscence, that weakness which induces to selfishness and all evil, and finds in the course of history a variety of ways to lure men and women into sin.”
One of these is “addiction to the digital media, which impoverishes human relationships,” he added. “Lent is a propitious time to resist these temptations and to cultivate instead a more integral form of human communication made up of ‘authentic encounters,’ face-to-face and in person.”
Along with penitential works, Francis also urged the faithful not to tire of praying, following the teaching of Jesus to “pray always without becoming weary” (Lk 18:1).
“We need to pray because we need God,” he insisted. “Thinking that we need nothing other than ourselves is a dangerous illusion.”
In this Oct. 1, 2017 file photo, Pope Francis poses for selfies with migrants at a regional migrant center, in Bologna, Italy. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, files)
The coronavirus pandemic has “heightened the awareness of our own personal and social fragility,” he asserted, while expressing his wish that this Lent might “allow us to experience the consolation provided by faith in God, without whom we cannot stand firm.”
Faith “does not spare us life’s burdens and tribulations,” he said, “but it does allow us to face them in union with God in Christ, with the great hope that does not disappoint, whose pledge is the love that God has poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.”
Finally, the pope also urged Christians not to grow tired of “doing good in active charity towards our neighbors.”
“During this Lent, may we practice almsgiving by giving joyfully,” he said. “God who ‘supplies seed to the sower and bread for food’ enables each of us not only to have food to eat, but also to be generous in doing good to others.”
Let us take special advantage of this Lenten season “to care for those close to us and to reach out to our brothers and sisters who lie wounded along the path of life,” he wrote. “Lent is a favorable time to seek out – and not to avoid – those in need; to reach out – and not to ignore – those who need a sympathetic ear and a good word; to visit – and not to abandon – those who are lonely.”