Remember what St Augustine said: 'If you say "enough," you are lost. Go further, keep going. Don't stay in the same place, don't go back, don't go off the road.' Lent should suggest to us these basic questions: Am I advancing in my faithfulness to Christ, in my desire for holiness, in a generous apostolate in my daily life, in my ordinary work among my colleagues?" Christ is passing by, 58

We are at the beginning of Lent: a time of penance, purification and conversion. It is not an easy program, but then Christianity is not an easy way of life. It is not enough just to be in the Church, letting the years roll by. In our life, in the life of Christians, our first conversion — that unique moment which each of us remembers, when we clearly understood everything the Lord was asking of us — is certainly very significant. But the later conversions are even more important, and they are increasingly demanding. To facilitate the work of grace in these conversions, we need to keep our soul young; we have to call upon our Lord, know how to listen to him and, having found out what has gone wrong, know how to ask his pardon.

Christ is passing by, 57

The kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel (Mk 1:15). And all the crowd gathered about him, and he taught them (Mk 2:13). Jesus sees the boats on the shore and gets into one of them. How naturally Jesus steps into the boat of each and every one of us! When you seek to draw close to our Lord, remember that he is always very close to you, that he is in you: regnum Dei intra vos est (Lk 17:21). The kingdom of God is within you. You will find him in your heart. Christ should reign first and foremost in our soul. But in order for him to reign in me, I need his abundant grace. Only in that way can my every heartbeat and breath, my least intense look, my most ordinary word, my most basic feeling be transformed into a hosanna to Christ my king. Duc in altum. Put out into deep water! Throw aside the pessimism that makes a coward of you. Et laxate retia vestra in capturam. And pay out your nets for a catch! We have to place our trust in our Lord ‘s words: get into the boat, take the oars, hoist the sails and launch out into this sea of the world which Christ gives us as an inheritance. Et regni eius non erit finis. His kingdom will have no end. Doesn’t it fill you with joy to work for such a kingdom?

Holy Rosary, 3rd Luminous Mystery