Two questions to prepare for Lent

As we prepare to enter into the holy season of Lent, I thought I might share with you a few words of Benedict XVI when he prayed before the Holy Face of Manoppello:

Those who meet Jesus, who let themselves be attracted by him and are prepared to follow him even to the point of sacrificing their lives, personally experience, as he did on the Cross, that only the 'grain of wheat' that falls into the earth and dies, bears 'much fruit' (cf. John 12:24). This is the path of Christ, the way of total love that overcomes death.

We who have encountered the Lord Jesus in the waters of Baptism, in the mercy of Confession, and in the nourishment of the Eucharist seek to follow on his way of total love. This is the very purpose of Lent, to die to ourselves so that new life may spring up within our souls, the new life of Christ who overcame death.

Let us, then, in these days that remain for us, earnestly pray about our Lenten sacrifices. We should ask Jesus: "What do I need to lay aside in order to let myself be attracted by you? What is it that keeps me from following you fully?" If we ask these two questions with sincerity and perseverance, he will answer us, in the silence of our hearts. Let us, then, not be afraid to put these two questions before him.