We can see this is an excellent word used in the Latin for when we "cry out to God" we are indeed in great need - often times a great outcry just as the Apostles cried out to Jesus when they thought they were going to drown. So also David in Psalm 54 says that he cried to the Lord and He heard his voice for David was afflicted, often violently attacked by his enemies. His only defense: God and his constant prayer for God to equalize things and conquer David's foe.

    Th Epistle from Isaias illustrates penance and how Ezechias wept, crying out to the Lord. We can see that God responds to the tears, heartfelt sincere tears. Because of Ezechias' fidelity, God promised the Assyrians would not conquer. In the Gospel Christ can see the inner tears of the Centurion and He can see the sincerity, yay, the Faith of this Roman, proclaiming to all:

"Amen dico vobis, non invéni tantam fidem in Israël. Dico autem vobis, quod multi ab Oriénte, et Occidénte vénient, et recúmbent cum Abraham, et Isaac, et Jacob in regno cælórum: fílii autem regni ejiciéntur in ténebras exterióres: ibi erit fetus, et stridor déntium." Et dixit Jesus centurióni: "Vade, et sicut credidísti, fiat tibi." Et sanátus est puer in illa hora.		"Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel. And I say to you that many shall come from the east and from the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of Heaven: but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." And Jesus said to the centurion: "Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee."

    In the same manner, we also cry out to God to protect us in this veil of tears, to keep us away from the "exterior darkness." Lent is the time when we are meant to be uncomfortable, because, in man's fallen human nature, that is often the only time we look to God for help. When things are going well, we get fat and sassy just as the Jews of the Old Covenant would heed God's word and then, in time, fall away. God needed to remind them of their promise and so He allowed for them to face adversities, even exile, and when they rejected the Son of God totally, even ending His covenant with what were His chosen people. So you see, it is not a good idea to get on God's bad side. And oh, today, how we get on His bad side by rejecting His Laws, by rejecting what He established upon the Rock of Peter (cf. Matthew 16: 18-19) and, from the Protestant Revolution on, thinking man has a better idea than God! What gall. Frankly, we should be surprised that the wrath of God, which, by the way Pope Paul IV in his Papal Bull Cum ex Apostolatus ex Officio and Pope Saint Pius V in his Apostolic Bull Quo Primum warned would happen if any one dared alter their infallible decrees.

    Well, look at the last 40 years and we can easily see how and why God has removed His graces and blessings from the Church that pretends to be Catholic but is, in fact, by its very evidence that it does not possess the four indelible marks, a false church, a man-made aberration -the Novus Ordo Missae, the very Pagan-Masonic-Zionist rite which introduced what Daniel and our Lord in Matthew 24: 15 called "the abomination of desolation." That in and of itself should prompt every Catholic to cry out with "violent expression of discontent; a popular outcry." And yet the vast majority remain silent and because of that lethargy - lukewarmness - they wallow in sin on that slippery slope to hell. For crying out loud, the very ones who should be crying out, do not!

    What we have been doing for so long is "press our luck." How much longer do you really think God will allow this malaise and deception to continue? That is why Lent is such a reminder. We must be shaken from our comfort zones and made uncomfortable, very uncomfortable. That is why Holy Mother Church in her wisdom commands fasting, partial abstinence and penance for every day in Lent except for Sundays and complete abstinence on Fridays, Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday. You'll note partial abstinence is a thing of the past in the conciliar church. The very ones who need the reminder the most, have been told that's not important anymore. The same for Requiem Masses. Another thing of the past in the church of Vatican II. According to these 'brilliant dunces' who lead the newchurch, everyone is going to Heaven as they make only too evident with white vestments at the Masses for the dead. They're trying to do away with Limbo. Purgatory will be next and don't be surprised if Ash Wednesday becomes too much of a burden for modern Catholics and it is either incorporated into Sunday or eliminated altogether. Ah yes, progress to keep up with the times.

    Modern man doesn't want to deal with problems unless he has his Zoloft and shoulder to cry on. We have plenty - too many - psychologists and psychiatrists to rationalize everything and assure us we are not at fault. Mea culpa is medieval. Tell that to God. I'd dare say we've dared Him too long. We had better watch our backs, but more importantly, our souls. Who knows when we will be called home?

    The noted theologian and Abbot Dom Gueranger writes in The Liturgical Year, volume 4 for Thursday After Ash Wednesday the following insight:

"The Church's intention in thus reminding us of our mortality, is to put us on our guard against allurements of this short life, and urge us to earnestness in the great work of regeneration, for which she has been preparing us during these last three weeks (Time of Septuagesima). How many there are of those who yesterday received the ashes, who will never see the joys of Easter, at least in this world! To them, the ceremony has been a prediction of what is to happen to them, perhaps before the month is out. And yet the verey same words that were pronounced over them, were said to us. May not we eourselves be of the number of those who are thus soon to be victims of death? In this uncertainty, let us gratefully accept the warning, which our Jesus came down from Heaven to give us: 'Do penance; for the kingdom of God is at hand' (St. Matthew 4: 17)."

    Don't wait until it is too late to cry out to God. Take advantage of Lent to prepare now. Cry out to Him now rather than later. By crying out to Him we can better prepare for whatever the future holds as Dom Gueranger reminds us. The kingdom of God is at hand. Are we doing penance? If we do not, how can we ever expect God to hear and answer us? We who should be crying out in this veil of tears.