By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – To enter into Lent is to get serious about taking responsibility for one's own sinfulness and about following Jesus, especially in caring for the poor, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Lent, the pope said, is "a time of particular commitment in the spiritual battle against the evil present in the world, in each of us and around us."

Pope Benedict spoke about the meaning of Lent at his Feb. 10 midday Angelus prayer, just a few hours before beginning a weeklong retreat with his closest aides. During the week, all papal audiences are canceled.

The pope said Lent is a time "to look evil in the face and prepare to battle against its effects and especially against its causes, to the point of the ultimate cause, which is Satan."

"It means not blaming the problem of evil on others, on society or on God, but recognizing one's own responsibility," he said.

The only effective way to face sin is to be serious about following Jesus, who conquered sin through his suffering, death and resurrection, the pope said.

"The way of the cross is, in fact, the only path that leads to the victory of love over hatred, sharing over selfishness, peace over violence," he said.

Pope Benedict ended his short talk by promising to remember the sick in his prayers during the retreat and by thanking those who would pray for him during the week.