Hi, I'm Edwards Sari and welcome to all things Catholic, where real faith meets real life.

In the Stations of the Cross, Jesus falls three times. Have you ever wondered why three?

Do you know the profound biblical background to the

three falls of Jesus and what difference it makes for us entering into the season of Lent? But why three?

I mean, he could have fallen just once or twice or maybe five or seven times seven is a good biblical number.

Why three? Well, these three falls of Jesus point to the three main battles we face

every Lent and the three main places of healing God wants to do in our hearts. Do you know

those three places of healing that God wants to work in your soul? Well, Pope Bennett once highlighted

how there's a great tradition that these

three falls of Jesus and the stations of the cross point to the threefold fallen state

of our human nature, our wounded humanity from original sin. The Bible tells us in 1st John

2, verse 16, there are three main ways we are deeply wounded. And we all experience this. It's the

lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And a successful lent is about

allowing Jesus's love to penetrate our hearts and heal us in those three ways. It's not just about,

oh, I gave up this thing for 40 days.

I succeeded.

I accomplished something.

I mean, yeah, God is rejoicing, and he'll use that.

But all of our fasting, all of our alms giving, all of our extra prayers and devotion are meant to be used as an instrument for doing this deeper healing in our souls. In fact, the word Lent,

you may know, it comes from the Middle English word for spring. And the idea of Lent is not just

about giving up things, so that it's about a springtime, how God wants to bring a springtime into

your soul. He wants to bring new life into these three main areas of wounds that keep us from experiencing

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