Marking the approach of Lent, Pope Leo XIV has invited Christians to rediscover the season as a time of deep conversion through attentive listening and meaningful fasting; not only from food, but from words that wound.
In his Lenten message titled “Listening and Fasting: Lent as a Time of Conversion,” the Holy Father urges the faithful to place God back at the center of their lives amid the anxieties and distractions of modern society. He describes Lent as a privileged opportunity to allow the Word of God to touch the heart and bring about authentic transformation.
At the heart of the message is the call to listen. Drawing from Scripture, the Pope recalls God’s words to Moses: “I have heard their cry.” Listening, he explains, is not passive. It is the beginning of liberation. Just as God heard the suffering of His people in Egypt, Christians today are called to hear both the Word proclaimed in the liturgy and the cries of the poor, the oppressed, and the suffering.
“Every path towards conversion begins by allowing the word of God to touch our hearts,” the Pope writes, emphasizing that genuine renewal flows from openness to God’s voice.
Alongside listening, fasting is presented as a concrete and necessary expression of this openness. While abstaining from food remains an ancient and meaningful practice, the Holy Father broadens its significance. Fasting, he notes, helps believers recognize what they truly hunger for and reorder their desires toward justice and holiness.
Quoting Saint Augustine, he reflects on humanity’s longing for righteousness, describing it as a hunger that stretches the soul and prepares it for fulfillment in God. Yet he cautions that fasting must be grounded in humility and nourished by Scripture, otherwise it risks becoming empty or prideful.
In a particularly practical appeal, the Pope highlights a “frequently unappreciated form of abstinence”: fasting from harmful speech.
“I would like to invite you to a very practical and frequently unappreciated form of abstinence: that of refraining from words that offend and hurt our neighbor,” he writes.
He calls on the faithful to “disarm” their language by avoiding harsh words, rash judgments, and slander, especially against those who are absent and unable to defend themselves. Instead, he encourages measured speech marked by kindness and respect within families, workplaces, social media platforms, political debates, media spaces, and Christian communities.
In a world often marked by hostility and division, the Pope underscores that disciplined and charitable language can become a powerful Lenten witness. “In this way, words of hatred will give way to words of hope and peace,” he affirms.
The message also stresses that Lent is not solely an individual journey. Referencing the communal repentance described in the Book of Nehemiah, the Holy Father reminds parishes, families, and ecclesial groups that listening and fasting must be embraced together. Conversion, he explains, concerns not only personal conscience but also the quality of relationships and dialogue within communities.
As the Church prepares to enter the penitential season, Pope Leo XIV concludes by praying that this Lent will foster greater attentiveness to God and to those who suffer, and that disciplined fasting, especially in speech, may help build what he describes as a “civilization of love.”
