The season of Lent comes at the end of winter and the beginning of Spring. It is a time of something dying and new life appearing. During Lent the branches of trees are barren. With the beginning of Spring we begin to see new life blossoming.  Lent is a time of dying and rising, of letting go what is dead and rotten within us, so that something new and alive can come forth. What is to die is sin. What is to arise is a deeper sharing in the new life of Jesus. If sin is not the thing we are dealing with during this season of grace, then nothing new will come forth in our life. That is why at the beginning of and throughout Lent we hear the prophetic call: Repent and turn back to God. What progress have we made so far in these past two weeks? What progress do we hope to make in the next four weeks?