His Holiness Pope Francis at Ash Wednesday Mass: Jesus calls us to return to our heart this Lent

His Holiness Pope Francis presides over Mass in the Basilica of Santa Sabina, in Rome (Vatican Media) - You can find a video at the end of the text.

His Holiness Pope Francis celebrates the beginning of Lent with Mass at the Basilica of Santa Sabina, and calls on the faithful to take up Jesus’ invitation to “return to the heart.”

By Christopher Wells

At the beginning of Lent, Jesus invites each one of us to “go into our inner room,” His Holiness Pope Francis said in his homily for Mass on Ash Wednesday.

“Going into your inner room,” explained the Pope, “means returning to the heart... going from without to within, so that our whole life, including our relationship with God,” reflects the reality of our inner being.

The Pope said that Lent offers us the opportunity to “go back” to our authentic selves, removing all the masks and illusions that we too often wear.

This, he said, is why “in a spirit of prayer and humility, we receive ashes on our head"—the ashes remind us we are dust, but dust that is loved and preserved by God: “The ashes placed on our head invite us to rediscover the secret of life” and allow us to feel ourselves to be loved by God “with an eternal love.”

Called to love our brothers and sisters

His Holiness Pope Francis went on to explain that the recognition that we are loved by God will in turn help us to see that we are called to love others in turn.

The traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, he said, “are not mere external practices,” but “paths that lead to the heart, to the core of our Christian life.”

Hearing the voice of the Lord

His Holiness Pope Francis invited everyone to listen to the voice of the Lord calling us to “go into your inner room,” to “return to your heart”…

This report was originally published on the website of Vatican News. Please click here to read the full text.