Effie Caldarola By Effie Caldarola, • Catholic News Service • Posted February 26, 2021 Jesus, as I make the 40-day pilgrimage through Lent, I ask that my journey may always be at your side. My one Lenten goal, indeed the one goal of my life, is to enter into a relationship with you. What I do, the time I give to prayer, the sacrifices I make — I ask that all may be done as a way of growing in my closeness to you, my friendship with you, my risen Lord. During Lent, I find myself called to Matthew 25:31-46. In this reading, Jesus, you tell your friends what is necessary to make the kingdom of God our heritage. You didn’t lay down onerous, bureaucratic rules, or ask us to memorize catechism pages, or become great theologians and scholars.