[NYer]

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten Season. Following Christ is certainly a hard journey, and that is what this season of lent is all about. It is to help us learn to sacrifice, as Christ sacrificed for us. It is not just sacrifice to inconvenience us, but rather to help us grow in faith and love. Sacrifice is necessary in the Christian journey, and I would even argue that it is something that makes us better people, better sons and daughters, better husbands and wives, and better friends and neighbors. This season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving can be very powerful, but only if we allow it to change us.

Let us all praise and thank God for this season of Lent and the graces that can come about from learning to sacrifice for His glory. May this Lenten journey be a time to growth for each and every one of us.

[CTrent1564]

Smvoice:

Why start at verse 19, how about verse 18?

2 Corinthians: Chapter 5 [see link below, NAB translation used]

http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/2corinthians/2corinthians5.htm

[Verse 18 thru 21] And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

It seems pretty clear that St. Paul speaks of a “ministry of Reconciliation” and that he [and the Apostles] were ambassadors for Christ as if God were appealing through us [The Apostles and thus the Church were sent/founded by Christ and are his instruments of reconciliation]

[D-fendr]

May this Lenten journey be a time to growth for each and every one of us.

Yes.

Thanks for your post.