Lent: A way of hope and inner renewal!

Lent: A way of hope and inner renewal!

Klagenfurt, Österreich - Lent is just around the corner and two important bishops from Austria and Switzerland have announced powerful messages. Bishop Josef Marketz von Carärnten opened a liturgical celebration on Ash Wednesday in Klagenfurt, which gave the starting signal for the “Art in the Cathedral” project. He described Lent as an invitation to face the shadows and imperfections of life and ask for repentance. This means a profound change in the heart and a return to God. In his sermon, Marketz emphasized that this year's art installation "beyond" by the Styrian light artist Anton Schnurrer is a concrete promise of God and is not just a vague idea. It is a pilgrimage of hope that leads through the desert of life to the light and love of God, said the bishop. The cathedral cantore musically framed the fair with inputs from Nikolaus Fheodoroff and Olivier Messiaen. As Kathpress reports, this time of reflection should stimulate to make your own life more conscious and to get closer to the promise.

belief and trust in Lent

Bishop Felix Gmür from Basel called for the importance of trust during Lent. He published a consideration of the spiritual dimension of faith, which invites him to a colorful pilgrimage path. In the St. Peter's Chapel in Solothurn, he emphasized that Lent was a unique opportunity to deal intensively with his own beliefs. "What do I think?" Was the central question that he raised. Gmür explained that faith is more than a mere presumption; It is trust - especially in a relationship with God. He recalled the martyrs Urs and Viktor as role models for a life that is entirely geared towards God. These considerations form a framework for a time of internal renewal and trust in God, which culminates with the Easter festival. As Gmür explained in his shepherd's word, Lent is a pilgrimage path of hope that Christians go on to discover the way to true and good.

The statements by Marketz and Gmür illustrate the central role of faith and hope in this special time of the year and offer clear instructions for the faithful. While these two approaches come from different perspectives, the core message remains: Lent is a time for change, reflection and a deeper connection to God, which shapes the way to Easter. Special offers such as the art installation in the Klagenfurt Cathedral and the spiritual impulses in the Peters chapel underpin the importance of this time for the believers in the two countries.