We continue during these first few days after Ash Wednesday to deepen our understanding of what the Lenten season should mean for us.

We begin a journey of repentance and conversion that will lead us back to the Lord and to the authentic selves we were created to be. Our journey will finally take us to the crossroads where we will meet Jesus traveling along his own path to Calvary. There we will be invited to accompany him and be with Jesus on his way to crucifixion and death. To reach that point on the road, however, we must first prepare ourselves by opening our ears to the words of the prophets who will point out for us the way we must travel, and open our hearts to the Lord who will encourage us to let him enter and change them for us, making them more like his own.

Today we hear a continuation of yesterday's reading from chapter 58 of the Prophet Isaiah. In these verses we are reminded that the road back to life, to fullness, to meaning, to health, peace, and redemption can only be travelled by those who 'pour themselves out for the hungry' and 'satisfy the desire of the afflicted.'

Our Gospel offers us the encouraging words of Jesus that he came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. We should then feel free to admit our sinfulness and weaknesses, both to ourselves and to the Lord, for it was indeed for the likes of us that the Lord came into this world.