Fr. David Songy, O.F.M.Cap. penned a recent column for the Denver Catholic Register as part of a series on Pope Benedict XVI’s 2011 Lenten message. The column is titled: Baptism: A washing away of sin and strengthening with the Spirit. The following is an excerpt: "The Holy Father’s Lenten message invites me to reflect on my own baptism and its meaning for my life. A Catholic for 50 years, a friar for 29, and a priest for 24, I consider his call to revisit personally the mystery of salvation to be quite fitting. After all, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 1231) reminds me of the importance that all those baptized as infants participate in a post-baptismal catechumenate, retracing the steps of Christian initiation, guided by the word of God. Every Lent the Church invites me again to contemplate my own conversion through full participation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ by undergoing in this period of election a further illumination of the mystery of God’s love for me. "To help bring about this deeper enlightenment, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged all the baptized to scrutinize the Sunday readings throughout Lent, whose themes delineate the journey of faith. He reiterated the teaching contained in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA): “During this period, a more intense preparation of the mind, which involves spiritual recollection more than catechesis, is intended to purify minds and hearts by the examination of conscience and by repentance and also to enlighten those minds and hearts by a deeper knowledge of Christ the savior.” In this spirit, I began with a reflection on the Gospel for the first Sunday of Lent, Matthew 4:1-11, Christ’s temptation in the desert, guided by the words of the Holy Father and desiring that this word elucidate my own faith journey. "The biblical account of the temptation of Christ addresses the truth of human fragility in two ways, first pointing to weakness caused by sin, which the grace of baptism washes away, and then emphasizing the strength of Christ, which is a grace that the Holy Spirit infuses into Christians. Christian faith entails following the example of Christ and being in union with him." The full column can be accessed via the following link:

Source: The Denver Catholic Register