Theme for Lent: ‘Change Our Hearts’

The Diocese of Tucson’s Lenten theme this year is “Change Our Hearts,” which Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas said “reflects on the most basic trait of Lent: Conversion.”
“Conversion means leaving behind ways that prevent us from imitating Christ and embracing new ways and new attitudes to draw us closer to Christ,” Bishop Kicanas said.
At all parishes, the common response to the prayer of the faithful during Lent will be “Change Our Hearts, O Lord,” the Bishop said.
“During the weeks of Lent,” he said, “we will ask you to ponder different types of conversion: to be more compassionate, to be more forgiving, to be more accepting, to be more welcoming, to be more generous, to be more zealous.”
On each Sunday of Lent the faithful are asked to focus on special prayer: To open our eyes and ears to see and hear the pain of others, to forgive others as He forgives us, to accept what we cannot change in our lives, to be more open to others, especially others who think, act or feel differently than we do, to make us more generous in sharing our time and talent and resources to be of help to others, and to give us more zeal in living the life of faith.
Bishop Kicanas said the Lenten theme this year “calls us to be a people of compassion who see where love is needed, and when we see where love is needed to respond.”