With families struggling and the Catholic Church in turmoil, Most Rev. Curtis Guillory, bishop of Beaumont, sees this Lent, which opens on Ash Wednesday, as a time of opportunity.

“Lent is a wonderful opportunity, symbolic of us entering a journey of more intense prayer, fasting and alms giving,” Guillory said, “a time to refocus on what is important, essential, what gives our lives purpose and meaning.”

For the church and its people, Guillory said, that means developing the strength to say no to things that “take us away from God and love and compassion.”

Those things that separate the church and its people from God, he said, include sin, such as the “sorrowful, shameful” sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests and others in authority — something with which the Catholic Church in Texas is grappling.

In January, the Diocese of Beaumont revealed the names of 13 priests who were credibly accused of sexual abuse since 1966, when the diocese was created. Nine have died.

That scandal follows revelations of sex abuse among the U.S. clergy that dates back to the 1980s on the Gulf Coast, starting in Louisiana.

Guillory said these serious sins and others create the need for forgiveness and reconciliation in the church.

“That is the way God has created us — to love, serve and be at peace with ourselves and others,” he said. “There are influences that try to take that away from us, take our focus away from the giver of peace and reconciliation.”

Ash Wednesday will be observed throughout the diocese and its more than 50 churches, which extends from Groves and Port Arthur in the southeast corner of the diocese to Anahuac and Mount Belvieu to the southwest, all the way north to Woodville and environs. Many of those churches are in Beaumont, nine; and Port Arthur, eight.

It will also be observed among other, liturgical churches, such as Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Methodist.

“Every Lent presents its opportunities and grace moments,” Guillory said, alluding to the sex abuse revelations. “Certainly this Lent we can pray more intensely and give alms for healing of victims and the church.”

The bishop said Lent, which will last 40 days, plus Sundays, leading to Easter Sunday on April 21, prepares Catholics, not unlike athletes train and prepare for athletic competition. Instead of physical exercise, he said, church members can prepare by prayer, fasting and alms giving — a spiritual regimen.

“Ultimately, victory is the joy of the resurrection,” he said.

While most or all Catholic churches will offer Mass, Guillory encouraged his flock to at least take 15 minutes a day for individual prayer.

“Set aside the time,” he suggested, “even during the day, you can say prayers of thanksgiving.

“Ask God or the saints to assist you with whatever demons you may be dealing with,” he said.

The bishop said fasting helps focus attention on those things for which Christians hunger most. Alms giving, he said, concentrates people’s attention on others over themselves.

That, he said, would be the gist of his Ash Wednesday homily at St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica.