Events
Lenten Message from Bishop Henry D’Souza, Bishop of Bellary

Bellary: 07 Mar 25

Dear Rev. Fathers, Brothers, Sisters and Lay Faithful,

Lent 2025: “Let us journey together in hope”
We begin the annual pilgrimage of Lent in faith and hope with the penitential rite of the imposition of ashes on March 5, the Ash Wednesday. The Church, our mother and teacher, invites us to open our hearts to God’s grace, so that we can celebrate with great joy and hope the paschal victory of Christ the Lord over sin and death.

Pope Francis in his message for Lent entitled “Let us journey together in hope” focuses on the idea of being a pilgrim Church on a constant journey of conversion. He recalls the desert experience of the Israelites through which “God leads us to freedom”. Firstly, he invites us to “discover what God is asking of us so that we can better advance on our journey to the house of the Father”.

Secondly, Pope Francis emphasises the importance of walking together in faith, highlighting the Church’s call to synodal unity. He urges Christians to promote unity, listen to one another, resist self-centredness and reflect on whether “we make others feel a part of the community or keep them at a distance”.

Thirdly, invoking the transformative power of hope, Pope Francis calls for a renewed trust in God’s promise of eternal life. Quoting Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 encyclical Spe Salvi, the Pope reflects on the necessity of this assurance: “The human being needs unconditional love. He needs the certainty which makes him say: ‘Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Rm 8:38-39).”

We urge our pastoral clergy and religious to give due importance to the word of God, family prayer and celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

With best wishes and prayers,

+ Henry D’Souza
Bishop of Bellary