The Mercy of God
Ash Wednesday
(Joel 2:12-18; Psalm 50; 2Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18)
By Fr. Samuel Odeh
Today we celebrate Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, the season of penance in the calendar year of the Church. It is a time of prayer, fasting and acts of charity to the poor, the suffering, and less fortunate in preparation for the death and resurrection of Christ. The suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is the high point of our Christian life and so we spend a period of forty days in preparation for it, in imitation of the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness, fasting and praying and being tempted by the devil. The readings for Ash Wednesday are the same every year. They invite us to a change of heart. In our first reading from the Book of the prophet Joel we read, “ “Yet even now,” says the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments”.” We are called to reconciliation between ourselves and God. In our second reading today the Apostle Paul says, “We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God”. Make peace with God; find favor with him. In the Gospel reading Jesus warns his followers against carrying out good deeds for show and for drawing attention to themselves. He instructs his disciples to give alms, to fast and to pray with such a confidence in God who can see the heart and who knows what is hidden. The disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving should be part of the life of a Christian all year round and not only during Lent, but we pay special attention to them during Lent as our preparation for Easter. The Church mandates fasting during Lent for all between the ages of sixteen and sixty. Those on medication and those who suffer certain ailments are exempt and must take care not to ruin their health. We also recommend The Stations of Christ Cross as an appropriate prayer during Lent. We also encourage going to Confession or tomorrow Sacrament of Reconciliation during this time of the year.
Today we place ashes on ourselves, tracing the sign of the Cross on our foreheads as a short story of our Christian life. The ashes remind us of our origins or beginnings as human beings and of our death. This calling to mind of our mortality is meant to discourage an emphasis on the care of the body that neglects the care of the soul and our heavenly journey. Remember man that you are dust and unto dust you shall return is one of the prayers that is said when we receive the ashes. The ashes in the form of a cross on our foreheads also represents the victory of Christ over sin and death. Christ conquered sin and death through his death and resurrection. It is our destiny as Christians to claim that victory that Christ won for us. We claim that victory whenever we turn away from sin and are faithful to the Gospel. This is the other prayer that is said when we receive the ashes: Repent and believe the Gospel”. May the Lord bless our Lenten observance and may we grow in holiness.
