People do not mortify themselves during Lent out of a sick desire to suffer. God did not make us for suffering. If we fast or do penances or pray, it is for a very positive goal: by overcoming self one achieves the Easter resurrection. We do not just celebrate a risen Christ, distinct from us, but during Lent we prepare ourselves to rise with him to a new life and to become the new persons that are what the country needs right now. Let us not just shout slogans about new structures; new structures will be worthless without new persons to administer the new structures the country needs and live them out in their lives. ~Archbishop Oscar Romero