I want mercy and not sacrifice...". (Mt 9:13).

The one who speaks these words is Jesus Christ: He who offered the most perfect sacrifice of Himself to God. This sacrifice was simultaneously the supreme revelation of the Father, who is God "rich in mercy" (Eph 2:4). During Lent, the Church meditates on her knees on this mystery: the mystery of sacrifice and mercy, and seeks to build her inner life and service from it. One must enter very deeply into this mystery of Christ's sacrifice in order to fulfil each day, with the strength that comes from it, the mission of mercy, that is, of love, which in Christ is always greater than any evil.

It is necessary to enter very deeply into the mystery of Christ's sacrifice in order to make all service to those who are in need of our mercy flow from it every day: the service of the Church and of all people of good will.

[Pope John Paul II, Angelus 29 March 1981]