Lent begins today, and God's call to penance reaches our ears. The Church is offering us an opportunity for a new conversion.

Benedict XVI wrote: “If God is the Creator, it means we are creatures. It means that we do not create ourselves, but that we depend for existence and growth on God and on others.

“Man is relational. I come from parents; I live for others. I give myself to a project I cannot consider that it is just limited to myself.”

We are not just autonomous zombies floating around each other. Rather, we are connected to each other because we are connected to God, who himself is Relationship as the Trinity.

Some may object, saying, “No one ever asked me if I wanted to be born!”

It is only when you know that there is One who did not cast lots blindly to bring you to existence…,

It is only when you realize that your existence is not necessary…,

It is only when you know that your existence is not an accident, but rather that you were born of freedom and love…,

It is only then that you can begin to be thankful for this freedom that created you,

and know –with gratitude– that it is a gift to be human...and live with a purpose.”

Sin is the destruction of the relationship between myself and God, and then among all of us. There is no such thing as an individual sin that does not have effects on others. Every turn away from God’s plan, from God’s law, affects not only me, but everyone else, as well.

This can be healed by denying myself and turning to Christ, the source of my love. How important is the Eucharist in restoring me, a fallen man, to unity with myself and with God.