Every year, Lent offers us a providential opportunity to deepen the meaning and value of our Christian lives and it stimulates us to rediscover the mercy of God so that we, in turn, become more merciful toward our brothers and sisters.In the Lenten Season, the church makes it her duty to propose some specific tasks that accompany the faithful concretely in this process of interior renewal : these are prayer, fasting and almsgiving.In this year's, I wish to spend some time reflecting on the practice of almsgiving, which represents a specific way to assist those in need and, at the same time, an exercise in self-denial to free us from attachment to wordly goods.The force of attraction to material riches and just how categorical our decision must be not to make of them an idol, Jesus confirms in a resolute way: " You cannot serve God and money " Luke 6:13 Almsgiving helps us to overcome this constant temptation, teaching us to respond to our neighbor's needs and to share with others whatever we posses through devine goodness.This is the aim of the special collections in favor of the poor, which are promoted during Lent in many parts of the world.In this way, inward cleansing is accompanied by a gesture of ecclesial communion, mirroring what already took place in the early church.We are not owners but rather administrators of the goods we posses: these, then, are not to be considered as our exclusive possession, but means through which the Lord calls each one of us to act as a steward of His providence for our neighbor and we cannot bring any of this things when we die to meet our creator, the Lord God Almighty.

Bishop Archie = New Millennium Order Church of Jesus Christ