Pope says Bible meditation leads to conversion, charity during Lent

Published: 2006-03-01

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Lent should be a time for deeper meditation on the word of God, which will lead to conversion and to concrete acts of charity, said Pope Benedict XVI. "Lent stimulates us to allow our lives to be penetrated by the word of God and in that way to know the fundamental truth about who we are, where we come from, where we are going and what is the path we must follow in our lives," the pope said March 1, Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent in the Latin-rite Catholic Church. In his main audience talk, sprinkled with explanations not contained in his prepared text, the pope looked at the two phrases used when distributing ashes: "Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return" and "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel." The first, he said, is a reminder that people have fallen and have limits, and it "is meant to urge us to place all our hope in God alone." The admonition to "convert and believe in the Gospel," he said, "places firm and faithful adhesion to the Gospel at the foundation of personal and communal renewal."

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