Pope Francis offered up advice for Catholics around the globe as we usher in the forty day Lenten season of penitence: “slow down” and “be quiet.”

In his celebration of the Ash Wednesday Mass in the Basilica of Santa Sabina on Aventine Hill in Rome, Pope Francis urged members of the Faithful to slow down the pace of life and rediscover the unique power that silence has in today’s world where we are inundated with constant media, noise, and desire for instant gratification.

Pope Francis warned that the constant commotion of today’s world will only leave us empty, telling us to beware “the emptiness of everything that is instantaneous, momentary and fleeting.”

Pope Francis also urged us to pause every once in a while so that we can enjoy the gift of time God has given us and not waste it away.

“Pause a little, leave behind the unrest and commotion that fill the soul with bitter feelings which never get us anywhere. Pause from this compulsion to a fast-paced life that scatters, divides and ultimately destroys time with family, with friends, with children, with grandparents, and time as a gift … time with God.”

In his homily, the supreme pontiff also exalted the virtue of quietness, saying we should rediscover the power of silence in a world filled with noise that only serves to deafen us.

“Pause for a little while, refrain from the deafening noise that weakens and confuses our hearing, that makes us forget the fruitful and creative power of silence.”

Want more Lenten advice from Pope Francis? Read the full message from the Holy Father for Lent 2018 here on the Vatican’s website.

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