VATICAN - The Pope starts Lent by presiding Ash Wednesday Liturgy in St Peter’s: “To be authentic disciples of Christ it is necessary to renounce self, to take up our cross every day and follow Him. This is the difficult path to holiness which every baptised Christian is called to walk.”

Vatican City (Fides Service) - At 10.30 this morning, 25 February, Pope John Paul II presided the Ash Wednesday Liturgy in St Peter’s Basilica filled to capacity with pilgrims and visitors from all over the world. In his homily during the Liturgy of the Word, the Pope said that the penitential act of administering the ashes, “so dear to Christian tradition”...“underlines sinful man’s awareness before the majesty and holiness of God. At the same time it manifests his willingness to accept and turn into concrete actions adhesion to the Gospel”.
The Pope continued: “Exterior acts of penance are only of value if they are the expression of an inward attitude, if they manifest a firm resolution to draw away from evil and walk the path of goodness”. This is the significance of Christian asceticism which evokes the image of rising to higher levels. “This necessarily calls for sacrifice and renunciation. We must in fact to reduce equipment to the essential so as not to make the journey harder; we must be ready to face any difficulty and overcome any obstacle to reach the objective established. To be authentic disciples of Christ it is necessary to renounce self, take up our cross every day and follow Him. This is the difficult path to holiness which every baptised Christian is called to walk.”
Among the means which the Church indicates for this journey the Pope mentioned humble and docile adhesion to the will of God, accompanied by unceasing prayer; forms of penance typical of Christian tradition; concrete acts of concern for others. Lastly the Pope reminded those present that in his Message for Lent this year he called attention to the difficult situations of numerous children in the world: “Many complex problems afflict the world of children. It is my firm hope that these little brothers and sisters of ours, often abandoned, may receive proper care thanks also to solidarity. This is one concrete way of carrying out our Lenten resolutions.” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 25/2/2004 - Righe 25; Parole 337)