MANILA, Philippines–The Lenten season officially began with the Ash Wednesday liturgy. While not a holy day of obligation, this was a day when churches are packed with devotees as well as those lining up for the imposition of the ash.

The Gospel for the Ash Wednesday Mass describes the three disciplines of Lent: acts of charity, prayer, and fasting or penance. While these are commendable practices for Lent—and every day—we must not lose sight of their goal. As the Lord tells us in the Gospel of Matthew: “It is mercy I demand, not sacrifice.”

The disciplines of Lent must lead or form us to become more loving and compassionate persons. It is not a spiritual Olympics that begins and ends with what we give up for 40 days and Holy Week, or the recollection or retreat we will attend, or the charitable deed or project we will support or do. These are simply means to an end.

What then is the end or the true aim of the observance of Lent?

Renewal of mission

The Gospel this Sunday gives us a good framework for reflection. In five simple verses, it tells us that Christ himself went through the 40-day journey in the desert, emerging to proclaim his mission with the core message: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

This is what Lent is all about—a renewal of mission. Pope Francis, in an Ash Wednesday homily, puts it succinctly: “With its invitation to conversion, Lent comes providentially to awaken us… ‘Return to me with all your heart’ … reminds us that it is possible to create something new within ourselves and around us, simply because God is faithful.”

It is a time to go back home to God. This is conversion—to be renewed in our identity and mission.

It is not being changed into something or someone different, but into becoming our authentic self once more.

The authentic self is fundamentally good, and its integrity lies in the mission it is entrusted with. Each of us is given a very special mission—special because it is unique and defined by the quality of our personal relationship with God.

No two relationships with God are the same.

Fr. Ronald Rolheiser wrote in his book, “The Holy Longing,” that each of us is meant to live in a special and personal way—a continuation of God’s compassion and love in the world. Our life is a continued presence in the world of God’s compassion and love.

Acts of love and courage

We see this in many people who have gone home to their authentic self and lived this out as their life work and mission.

A modern-day example is Blessed (Mother) Teresa of Calcutta, who became the face of Christ to the poor who were dying; she cared for them in their final days by “doing little things with great love.”

On her 80th birthday, Cecilia Muñoz-Palma—the first woman jurist appointed to the Supreme Court of the Philippines and the chair of the 1986 Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 Constitution—wrote a code of conduct for the remaining years of her life, a code she lived out for the next 13 years: “When events occur which call for action, one must have the moral courage to follow and abide by one’s conscience, whatever may be the cost.

“Grandiose acts are not necessary. Small things done every day can constitute moments of truth when dedicated to love and service to God, country and fellowmen.

“And so, on this my 80th birthday, I resolve that each day will be a moment of faith and truth, with the small things that I do, for the Lord had said: ‘Because you have done well with small things, I shall have greater things for you.’”

The prayer and fasting in Lent must lead us to action; the good deeds, the small things done with great love and every day will make our world a better place.

Vocation and mission

This past week, I have been working closely with two colleagues in my mission for public schools—one has been collaborating with me for the past 14 years; and the other was my student 17 years ago.

In one conversation, I told them that my painful yet most important lesson, after 35 years of journeying, is that there are many good things to do, very good things, but there is only one right thing to pursue.

This one right thing is our personal vocation, our personal mission from God—a personal way of continuing God’s compassion and love in the world.

We can pursue this by following Blessed Teresa’s lead: “Doing things with great love”; or Justice Palma’s way: “The small things done every day can constitute moments of truth when dedicated to love and service to God, country and fellowmen.”

As the country goes through troubled, noisy times, how do we proclaim, without adding to the cacophony, that “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel”?

This Lent season is perhaps extra special. It is a time for us, individually and collectively—in our families, our parishes, our communities, our organizations, our country—to pray and fast so that we may be able to discern what the right thing is, and to do it right.

The prayer and fasting of Lent must lead to doing not just good, but the right thing—our mission, going back to why God sent us into this world.

“This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”