In the message to the faithful, the cardinal recalls that fasting is an opportunity for “search”, “repentance” and “return to God”. It does not refer only to a “material dimension”, but has a “theological and spiritual” value. His thoughts go to the Chaldeans of the diaspora, who are in “desperate need of conscience and belonging” to their land.
Baghdad () – Fasting is a practical opportunity “to explore” a path, traced by Jesus Christ himself, “of repentance, behavior change” and to direct “life towards God”, explains the Baghdad patriarch of the Chaldeans, card. Louis Raphael Sako, in his Lenten message. He warns that the time of prayer and abstention from meat is a moment “of hope, in the life of the Christian”, because fasting “is not limited only to the material aspect”, but also encompasses the “theological and spiritual” dimension. .
The cardinal’s reflection, published on the website of the Chaldean patriarchate, recalls that “helping the poor is a sacred duty”, especially at this historical moment, characterized by a “global economic crisis” that inevitably affects Iraq as well. Solidarity and sharing suffering and difficulties are more urgent today than ever, he continues, “especially in light of the terrible earthquake that devastated Turkey and Syria”, causing destruction and tens of thousands of deaths and displacement. That is why a “special fund” has been created in each parish to help the populations affected by the earthquake.
Lent, continues Cardinal Sako in his reflection, includes different elements, ranging from prayer to meditation, from repentance to confession, to “reach the light of the resurrection and the joy of the feast” of Easter. The Christian fast, he adds, “is based on the fast of Jesus” that he prepares to “receive God in our life”, and in this consists “our hope”.
That quest is also an “existential issue,” a time to “reject wrongdoing” and “hold firmly to our faith and spirituality.” “The practice of fasting – observes the patriarch – abstaining from food, drink and conjugal relations for a period of time, is an opportunity to channel and control the bad instincts” intrinsic to all human beings. And it is a time of hope, especially at a time like this”, in which “we are witnessing the decline of religious and moral values due, among other things, to rapid changes, the predominance of technologies and the irruption of the Internet in daily life.” These are changes typical of the times, which, however, have caused more than one “crack in the social structure”, in the search for money and influence or “in the search for pleasure”.
The Card. Sako then points out some points that can be deepened in this Lenten season, such as the study of the word of God and perseverance in prayer, which allows “entering into an affective relationship with God” because it is “inseparable” from love. Lastly, charity, which is “love for the poor” and finds its maximum expression precisely in the time of fasting.
Another important aspect, in the final part of the message, is the one that refers to the Chaldeans of the diaspora, who feel a “desperate need for conscience and belonging” to their land, to their community, after “a time of indifference, dispersion and fragmentation”. The cardinal invites us to resume and rebuild “our Christian, Chaldean and Catholic identity”, the pride of belonging to the nation and living the faith according to the model offered by “our saints and martyrs”. A return to the sources of faith that requires “a reading of our history and our spiritual and liturgical patrimony”, because the future is shaped by the experiences and knowledge acquired in the past. Lastly, the cardinal invites “especially priests and young people” to study “the history of the Chaldeans, the writings of the great theological and spiritual fathers” delving “into the rites and the language”, and to the bishops, to the task of “encouraging and accompanying them”.
