The Bishop of Limerick, Brendan Leahy, has urged the people of the diocese to use this Lent to address indifferences they may have to faith, to others and to themselves.
In his Lenten Message, Bishop Leahy also called on the public to include ending the indifference that many now hold for charities following the controversies of late 2013 during Lent.
Bishop Leahy said that Lent should not always be about what people are not going to do but also about what they are going to do. Taking the cue from Pope Francis in his recent Lenten Message, Bishop Leahy said that the Pope’s reference to “a globalisation of indifference” in our world today is very apt.
“For many, Lent is the annual season to check out those areas of our personal or social lives which we have become indifferent to.
“Take charities, for instance. There was so much controversy last year about how some charities are run that, without realising it, we might all have become a little more indifferent to charities. Why not consider giving more to charities this Lent?
“The Catholic Church’s agency, Trócaire, is well worth supporting but there are many others too. The important thing is not to be indifferent to the needs expressed through those charities.
“Indifference doesn’t just apply to charities. We can get so used to hearing about the problems in the Middle East that some switch off in an indifference to the issue of peace and the plight of Christians in that part of the world. When ethical debates begin around us, there’s a temptation to become indifferent to searching for what is true and right.
“Because of the failures within the Church, we can, understandably perhaps, become indifferent to the Catholic Church, its teaching and sacraments. And yet, the Church itself has so much to offer us.
“Issues relating to abuse of drink and drugs have become so prevalent that we shut out the issues and ignore them. And yet we know the havoc they wreak in society. None of us can afford to say I can do nothing to help.”
