Sexagesima Sunday AD 2026

Our Lord speaks of the Word of God as a seed that is sown in the heart of man. God wants His word to bear fruit in us – eternal fruit that does not perish. Such fruit can only grow in a good heart, and for the heart to be good, it is necessary to prepare it in the right way.

The Church recommends to us, especially during Lent, three means to prepare our hearts to receive the Word of God so that it may bear abundant fruit in us. These three means are penance, mortification, and resolutions.

Penance means regret for the sins we have committed and making amends for them. Often it is quite simple: if someone has stolen, they must return what was stolen; if someone has slandered someone, they must admit that they were wrong and restore the good name of those they have slandered; if someone has neglected a loved one, they must ask for forgiveness and start taking care of their loved one in the right way. Sometimes it's not that simple, though, but if we take our repentance seriously, we will find a way to do penance.

Mortification means fighting against the specific vices and sins that currently burden us and hold us captive. This also must be very specific, otherwise it doesn’t make any sense. For example, if someone has a habit of lying or backbiting, then giving up eating chocolate during Lent won’t help him at all. We must examine ourselves to clearly recognize what is wrong in us and in our lives and to decisively confront it, replacing vices with virtues.

While penance is primarily concerned with the past and mortification with the present, resolutions are directed toward the future. In addition to what we regret and what we must overcome, we also have to realize what we were created for. We will never reach our true potential if we only react to what is wrong and bad. We must keep before our eyes an ideal to strive for. The greatest ideal is Jesus Christ, who has given Himself for us and continues to give Himself to us in His Word and Sacraments to build us up as new people.