Lent provides opportunity to share burden of poor

Jan. 31, 2008

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Once again we are about to enter Lent, anticipating the new life of our Lord Jesus Christ, Risen and glorified. We know that this new life is the life given to us in Holy Baptism, and so we look forward to its renewal with joy and awe.

By custom in this Diocese, the beginning of Lent is an opportunity for us to share the burden of the poor of Christ. On Ash Wednesday, we take up a special collection for Aid to the Churches in Central and Eastern Europe. As a sign of humility, we bear publicly the ashes of the false hope of Palm Sunday's promises of royal power. Let us likewise remember how false the promises of today also ring. Jesus did not come into the world to found a kingdom of this world, but the Kingdom of Heaven. There is no other liberation from the realities of sin and suffering than the via crucis. Every other promise is false, built on sand, not on the Rock. Today, our false prophets are mostly political, with the lie that the state can fulfill every need if only it wields enough power. The Churches of once-Communist Europe suffered greatly to denounce that lie, and still need our help today.

On the First Sunday of Lent, we take up a special collection for the Black and Indian Missions, and Catholic Home Missions. We are all responsible for sharing the Good News, and its many fruits, with all our neighbors. We must especially seek out the poor in our efforts to be Christ's love in the world; and there is no greater poverty than to be without faith and hope in Jesus Christ. This collection, which supports the work of mission societies in our own country, and in our own Diocese, supports scholarships and other efforts to build up our Catholic faith, is one small way to fulfill our responsibility.

As we enter the season of preparation for Easter, I ask you to be generous in supporting these two appeals, especially with your prayers. I pray for all of you, that this Lenten season may be filled with the grace of renewal of faith and love, and that the glory of the Risen Lord may come to dawn in your hearts more and more.

Your brother in Christ,

Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless
Bishop of Sioux City