C&SI - Reflecting on Lent with Bishop Brendan Leahy - 22 Feb 2026 (S06E14b) (podcast excerpt)

On this weeks podcast excerpt we are joined by Bishop Brendan Leahy to reflect on the beginning of the Lenten Season. Bishop Brendan shares with us his reflection from his Lenten Pastoral Letter 2026 on how we could reframe our understanding of the ancient call to fast during the period of Lent including how to translate it into action for the modern world. Fasting is always put before us in the Christian life.  and reminds that “Jesus' call to conversion and penance… does not aim first at outward works… but at the conversion of the heart, interior conversion”. Without interior conversion our external works such as fasting“ remain sterile and false.” In Lent, fasting is never meant as something we do on its own. It is not to be separated from prayer and almsgiving as forms of Christian love. Each of us must decide in our heart and perhaps in consultation with others, what specific form of fasting we want to take on for Lent. And then, we need to persevere in our undertaking. 

He also shares on a Lenten resource that is being made available as part of the preparations for the National Synodal Pathway. Baptised and Sent is the Preparatory Document for the Pre-Synodal Assembly of the Irish Synodal Pathway, which took place on 18 October 2025. A key moment in the Irish Synodal Pathway it was a shared journey of listening, prayer, and discernment as the People of God. The document was prepared to support reflection and dialogue across parishes, schools, faith communities, and dioceses.

This Lent, parishes, schools and groups across Ireland are invited to journey together through a set of reflective resources inspired by Baptised and Sent. Grounded in the conviction that baptism is the foundation of our identity, dignity and mission, these resources help us return to the heart of Christian life, that through Baptism we are reborn in Christ and sent out by the Spirit in service of the Gospel.  Through these Lenten reflections, each person – lay, religious and ordained – are encouraged to rediscover who we are as God’s people, to listen to the Holy Spirit and to take concrete steps, individually and collectively towards living our baptismal calling more deeply.

You can also register to participate online HERE.

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