"TOWARDS A SPIRITUAL RESURRECTION" This is the time when the Church invites us to remember the Life and Mission of our Lord Jesus during the period called Lent. Although we should not take it only as a reminder but a time for long-needed spiritual resurrection of anything that is dead in our life. The crisis of Faith in the Church, something that I deeply care about, is dangerous because increasingly the Baptized lack a solid basis of Faith and are not united with Jesus’ Mission. What danger, you may ask? Brothers and sisters, the grave danger of LOSING Eternal Salvation, LOSING the abundant Life offered by Jesus Himself “I have come so that they may have Life and have it to the full.” (John 10:10) As we are invited to pray, fast and do charitable acts during this time of Lent, I think we must more importantly, take Eternal Life very serious since it will be the final destination for us who believe and follow the Master and Savior, Jesus Christ. Remember what happened to the people of Israel when they forgot their Lord; remember that the Lord is continuously seeking men and women of Faith to become His prophets, live out the Faith, and announce the Good News. The prophet Ezekiel was shown a vision of his people under dry bones that represented the spiritual reality of many who seem to be the “living dead” in need of Resurrection. But he was also shown the possibility that Resurrection represents and, of course, the restoration of the people of Israel that had drifted apart from God. In His vision, God makes it clear to Ezekiel that the dry bones could be resurrected from death. And they did! The dry bones took shape and raised to new Life with the power of God. “Then He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, dry bones, hear the Word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, Listen! I will make breath enter you so you may come to Life.” (Ezekiel 37:4) Today, I ask the Lord for a small flock that has not lowered their guard, who continue to stand their ground and pray on their knees for those who are indifferent to the merciful Love of the Father through the Son so that they may be raised from the dead and Resurrected unto New Life with Him. Pope Benedict XVI, may he rest in peace, was interviewed by the German press and radio as a priest before he became Pope. And he said some ultimately true words about our current times that hit me quite personally and which proved to be prophetic regarding the final test of the Church. “We will soon have priests reduced to the role of social workers and the message of Faith reduced to political vision. Everything will seem lost, but at the right time, at the most dramatic stage of the crisis, the Church will be reborn. She will…