Quotes by Pope Francis on LENT

• Lent is a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty. Let us not forget that real poverty hurts: no self-denial is real without this dimension of penance. I distrust a charity that costs nothing and does not hurt.

• What gives us true freedom, true salvation and true happiness is the compassion, tenderness and solidarity of His love. Christ’s poverty which enriches us is His taking flesh and bearing our weaknesses and sins as an expression of God’s infinite mercy to us.

• God did not let our salvation drop down from heaven, like someone who gives alms from their abundance out of a sense of altruism and piety. Christ’s love is different! When Jesus stepped into the waters of the Jordan and was baptized by John the Baptist, He did so not because He was in need of repentance, or conversion; He did it to be among people who need forgiveness, among us sinners, and to take upon Himself the burden of our sins. In this way He chose to comfort us, to save us, to free us from our misery.

• Christ, the eternal Son of God, one with the Father in power and glory, chose to be poor; He came amongst us and drew near to each of us; He set aside His glory and emptied himself so that He could be like us in all things (cf. Phil2:7; Heb 4:15). God’s becoming man is a great mystery! But the reason for all this is His love, a love which is grace, generosity, a desire to draw near, a love which does not hesitate to offer itself in sacrifice for the beloved. Charity, love, is sharing with the one we love in all things. Love makes us similar, it creates equality, it breaks down walls and eliminates distances. God did this with us. Indeed, Jesus “worked with human hands, thought with a human mind, acted by human choice and loved with a human heart. Born of the Virgin Mary, He truly became one of us, like us in all things except sin.” (Gaudium et Spes, 22)

We become like that which we love...

"We  become like that which we love. 
If we love what is base, we become base; 
but if we love what is noble, we become noble." 
~ Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen ~

I found this quote from Venerable Archbishop Sheen and it really struck me. In today's world, there is such a distorted view of what the word love really means. But as Christians and lovers of the Truth, we have a different way of looking at things than as the world does.

In John 4:16, the Bible says that "God is love". Love is the only thing that God can do. His complete essence is so full of love that He can not do any action unless it is out of love.

Who are you?
Who would you like to become?

These are two big questions that you must ask yourself. Notice that you don't have to answer the question "Who were you?" That question is irrelevant. It doesn't matter who you once were, all that matters is your present and your future.
All that matters now is who you can be for God.
All that matters is who you can be for love.

I'm not sure if you knew this (I honestly didn't), but Webster says that "base" as an adjective means "not following or in accordance with standards of honor and decency". So if you love the things of this world that have no honor and that are vulgar and indecent, then you shall become more like them until you too are filthy and vulgar and have no honor.

So if you want to become someone noble and beautiful and loving, you must love what is love. God is love. So fall in love with Him and He will change your essence, He will make you more like Himself. You will become something more noble because He is noble. Let Him work through your life, let Him break your base heart of stone, and let Him transform you into a beautiful instrument of His grace and love.

What do you love?
Who are you?
Who would you like to become?