The 3 words Pope Francis offered to us in his homily on Ash Wed 2018 to reflect during Lent are: Pause, See  & Return.
 
[cont’d]   ❖ See the faces of our children and young people filled with yearning for the future and hope, filled with ‘tomorrows’ and opportunities that demand dedication and protection.  Living shoots of love and life that always open up a path in the midst of our selfish and meagre calculations. 
❖ See our elderly whose faces are marked by the passage of time, faces that reveal the living memory of our people.  Faces that reflect God’s wisdom at work.
❖ See the faces of our sick people and the many who take care of them; faces which in their vulnerability and service remind us that the value of each person can never be reduced to a question of calculation or utility. 
❖ See the remorseful faces of so many who try to repair their errors and mistakes, and who from their misfortune and suffering fight to transform their situations and move forward. 
❖ See and contemplate the face of Crucified Love, who today from the cross continues to bring us hope, his hand held out to those who feel crucified, who experience in their lives the burden of failure, disappointment and heartbreak.
See and contemplate the real face of Christ crucified out of love for everyone, without exception.  For everyone?  Yes, for everyone.  To see his face is an invitation filled with hope for this Lenten time, in order to defeat the demons of distrust, apathy and resignation.  The face that invites us to cry out: ‘The Kingdom of God is possible!’
Pause, See & Return.  Return to the house of your Father.  Return without fear to those outstretched, eager arms of your Father, who is rich in mercy (cf. Eph 2:4), who awaits you.
✠ Return without fear, for this is the favorable time to come home, to the home of my Father and your Father (cf. Jn 20:17).  It is the time for allowing one’s heart to be touched… Persisting on the path of evil only gives rise to disappointment and sadness.  True life is something quite distinct and our heart indeed knows this.  God does not tire, nor will he tire, of holding out his hand. 

✠ Return without fear, to join in the celebration of those who are forgiven.
✠ Return without fear, to experience the healing and reconciling tenderness of God.  Let the Lord heal the wounds of sin and fulfil the prophecy made to our fathers: ‘A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh’ (Ezek 36: 26).