(ANS – Vatican City) – Listening, fasting, and walking together: these are the three fundamental pillars on which one can base the journey of conversion during Lent proposed by Pope Leo XIV to all the faithful. His message, published by the Holy See Press Office, reminds us that this season can be a favorable opportunity to “place the mystery of God back at the center of our lives.”

“Every journey of conversion begins when we allow ourselves to be reached by the Word and welcome it with docility of spirit,” the Pontiff begins, emphasizing that it is precisely to the extent that we welcome the Word and divine grace that they have the power to work in and transform people’s lives.

For this reason, listening to the Word is the first step in beginning a serious path of conversion. Leo XIV also points out that “listening is a distinctive trait” of God Himself, who is attentive to the cries of the oppressed. “I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry” (Ex 3:7), quotes the Holy Father. He therefore invites the faithful to imitate God’s example: just as He listens and cares for the poor, so too Christians are sent “to recognize that ‘the condition of the poor represents a cry that, in the history of humanity, constantly challenges our lives.’”

The next step after listening is fasting, an ancient ascetical practice that serves “to discern and order our appetites,” but above all allows us to “expand our desire” so that it turns toward God and is oriented to doing good.

In this sense, after reaffirming the value and goodness of fasting that involves the body, the Holy Father also calls for a metaphorical fast—one from “words that strike and wound our neighbor.” He therefore invites the faithful to “disarm language,” confident that in doing so, “many words of hatred will give way to words of hope and peace.”

Finally, the Pope emphasizes the communal dimension of listening to the Word and practicing fasting—without which any good intention risks making the heart proud. He thus encourages sharing both listening and fasting in a common journey, in which “listening to the Word of God, as well as to the cry of the poor and of the earth, becomes a way of life together, and fasting supports authentic repentance.”

The complete message of Pope Leo XIV is available in various languages here.