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Homily for Ash Wednesday

READ: (Joel 2: 12-18; 2 Cor 5: 20-6:2; Matt 6: 1-6, 16-18)

REFLECT: A time to return, reconcile and renew life in God, with others and oneself...

Dear friends, with Ash Wednesday we begin the season of lent. Lent is a six-week time of fasting, prayer and almsgiving observed by Christians every year to prepare for the celebration of Easter. The season of Lent lasts for 46 days. It includes 40 days of fasting and six Sundays, on which fasting is not practiced as Sunday is the day of the Lord. There is a special significance of Forty Days in the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament we see Moses spent 40 days and nights with God on Mount Sinai in preparation to receive the Ten Commandments, Israelites prepared themselves 40 years to enter the promised land, prophet Jonah spent 40 days for the conversion of Nineveh and in the New Testament Jesus is being led to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for 40 days.

Today is Ash Wednesday, an important day that marks the start of the Lenten season. Ash Wednesday reminds us the importance of two bible verses; “Man you are dust and to dust you shall return,” and the other is, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” These two statements remind us of our origin and end of life in God. Yes, we are dust and we shall return to the same God who created us; we are mortals and given an opportunity to reconcile with God; it reminds as well a time to repent and believe in the good news that God gives to us through the word of God and the incarnate word Jesus.

Ash Wednesday provides a special ambience for us to prepare ourselves in making confession and profess our faith and devotion to God. We have references in the bible about ashes symbolizing mortality, mourning, penance, returning and repentance to God for our sins;

In Gen 3:19 “Man you are dust and to dust you shall return.” In Job 42; 6 “Therefore, I retract all I have said and in dust and ashes I repent.” In Dan 9:3 “I turned to the Lord God and begged him. I pleaded with prayers and fasting. I did penance, I put on sackcloth and sat on an ash pile.” In 1 Mac 3 “They (Jews) fasted that day, put on sackcloth, sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their garments.” In Esth 4: 1 Mordecai puts on sackcloth and ashes as a sign of mourning and repentance; In Matt 11:21 “If the miracles worked in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes; so we see that ash is used as symbolism of mortality, mourning, penance and a returning to God.

Further, traditionally the ashes used on Ash Wednesday are collected from the burning of palm leaves given in the previous year’s Palm Sunday. The ash is blessed, used in the ceremony smearing on our foreheads. On this day during the Holy Eucharist, priest smears ashes on the forehead of lay faithful in the shape of a cross. The smearing of ashes on the forehead show that we belong to Christ and indicate that we grieve for our sins and sinfulness. We are also obliged to fast and abstain on Ash Wednesday.

So with these background study, based on the liturgy of the day and the liturgy of the word, I would like to share with you three points of reflection;

1.     A time to return:

The season of lent embarks the journey towards God. It is a clarion call to return to the Lord; return to the Lord who created us and even still loves and give us all. The very act of returning is the voice that is resounded in the first reading from Prophet Joel. This returning is a coming back to God with all our hearts, fasting and mourning from sins that have entangled us and separated us from God.  The returning is not merely by rending or tearing garments but rending or splitting your heart says the Lord. It indicates that it’s not enough to express outwardly that we tear or rend our garments to return to God but inward rending should take place, the hearts need to be opened to receive God. The grief should be from the heart, so that a real returning could take place. When the heart is affected, the real change within is effected powerfully.

Today we undertake lots of efforts in showing our returning to God. Most of the ways are showy or done in order to seek the attention of the other or done only outwardly but interiorly no changes take place. Such action in no way brings a real change or real returning to God. As Prophet Joel shares with us God’s word saying, “Return to the Lord, your God, for his is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and he relents over disaster.”

Yes, the Lord waits with eager longing for our returning because he is gracious and merciful. The Lord shows his compassionate face and steadfast love when we return. He does not count the score of wrongs because he takes delight in our returning. So let us make earnest efforts to return to the Lord, turning our ways of sins and sinfulness to good an goodness and come back to the Lord who is gracious, merciful, and loving.

2.     A time to reconcile:

Reconciliation is another aspect of our journey in the season of lent that we need to make. In the second reading of St. Paul’s letter to second Corinthians we are reminded and an appeal is made to reconcile with God. Just as Christ reconciled us with God by taking human for like us without sin, suffered, died and was resurrected, so also we need to reconcile with God by turning away from our sins, realizing the price that was paid by Jesus for love of us to reconcile with God. That’s why St. Paul exhorts us not to make the grace of God in vain but to gain eternal life through God’s grace.

Most of us today wait for the opportune or perfect time to reconcile or complain that time is not yet come or we feel so busy or occupied that we do not even have time to reconcile with God, others and oneself. But in the end of the second reading St. Paul reminds us that now is the favorable time and now is the day of salvation.” Yes, this is the favorable time for all of us reconcile with God as God’s favor is manifested; this is the time of salvation that God grants, we need to co-operate with God and in his plans for us.

Today most of us fail to reconcile with God, because, we have not realized the favorable time that God has set or have not been mindful of the favor that God has manifested to humanity through Jesus Christ. So lent is a time to reconcile with God realizing God’s favor and grace, reconciling with others by forgiving and being kind to one another and reconciling with oneself as created by God, accepting oneself with the human limitations and strengths. So let’s make this a favorable time to reconcile with God, others and oneself. The real reconciliation is rooted in real love that we express to God, others and oneself even when we are hurt or meet with daily difficulties and distress in life

3.     A time to renew:

Another aspect of spiritual journey in the season of lent is to renew one’s life. The renewal of life begins when we understand the significance and the purpose of creation. The significance and the purpose of creation are to live in harmony with one another. When we return to God with a repentant heart and reconcile with God in true love, the renewal of life begins. The Lenten season proposes ways and means by which we can return, reconcile and renew our lives in God. That’s what we find in the gospel reading of the day, the three important pillars that support our spiritual journey during the season of lent - Prayer, alms-giving and fasting. Each of these pillars speaks of our relationship with God, others and oneself.

The first pillar is prayer. Prayer is a powerful medium that connects us with God and establishes good relationship with God. It is in and through prayer that the bond between God and us become strong and solid. It helps us to get rid of the vicious circle of life that entangles or tempts troubles or tortures.

That’s what Pope Francis would speak of the power of prayer that “prayer in the hiddenness of our rooms becomes the secret to making our lives flourish everywhere else, as it is a warm and trusting dialogue that consoles and expands our hearts. So he says that we need to look at the Crucified Lord, so that our hearts are opened to the touching tenderness of God, and in his wounds place our own wounds and those of our world.” Yes, prayer has such power to change us fully and perfectly, provided we use this power-packed medium to empower us with the grace of God.

The second pillar is alms-giving. It connects us with others. Alms-giving is another powerful medium to reach out to the poor and needy. It gives delight to the one who receives and gives. It is one way of empowering the powerless, the poor, neglected, unloved, and uncared, those without any help and support. The more we give the more abundant is God’s blessings we receive. For God always loves the cheerful giver. It does not matter how much we give but with what attitude and dispositions we give to the other to make their life happy and joyful is worth-noting.

Pope Francis expressly shares that when Prayer is put into practice it bears fruit in charity. Since Lenten charity, purified by these ashes, brings us back to what is essential, to the deep joy to be found in giving. Almsgiving practiced far from the spotlights can fill our hearts with peace and hope. Yes, let us give and share with the other what we have in order to experience the expressions of real joy in life. Let us not expect anything in return for the giving or let us not do it to win over the attraction of others.

The third pillar is fasting. It connects us with oneself. Fasting is an expression of one’s love for God in foregoing or giving up what one loves or likes the most. It can be sweet, food, habits, attitudes, approaches, behaviors etc. it is difficult to give up what one loves or likes the most, yet the efforts and initiatives are expressions of love one wants to show to God. It costs one’s feelings, emotions, desires, dreams and behavioral pattern of life. This giving up for God’s sake enables us to live with the minimum we really need in life and equips or enables us as children of God.

Moreover, Pope Francis exhorts us that “fasting helps us appreciate things for their true worth. It can include things other than food, suggesting that we fast from anything that can create in us any kind of addiction.” Yes, we are in one way or the other addicted to things, persons, place, times etc. Let us give up what we are addicted to. It can be our narrow-minded approaches, negative vibes of life, addiction to various habits that disturbs, distracts, and detaches our interaction and relationship with God, others and oneself. Let us help the self by giving in to what pleases God.

Importantly, we have an eye-opening statement from today’s gospel reading that strongly reminds us to practice these three pillars privately, without exposing them to draw the attention of another by show off, because the due reward would be given by the heavenly Father to the one who is genuine in practicing it to come closer to God and not to be attached to people’s praise, honor and glory.

As Pope Francis on his Lenten message for 2023 used the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration as a launching point. He addressed both the journey of Lent and the Catholic Church’s ongoing Synod on Synodality is a time to listen to Jesus as he speaks to us in various ways through the liturgy and human situation. He also pointed out that Lent is a time to confront the difficulties of ordinary life remembering that Lent is a period that leads to Easter.

Yes, we may feel that lent is hard but let us not forget the fruit of lent by lending our ears, eyes, minds and hearts to God. Let us make this journey of lent a time to listen to God’s voice in liturgy and in human situations. Let us confront the hardships of life reminding ourselves the greater joy that is in store for us is Easter, the resurrected Saviour, Jesus Christ, who would raise us from our falls and failures.

RESPOND:

Do we make efforts to return to God with a repentant heart?

Do we make efforts to reconcile with God, others and oneself for genuine love?

Do we use three pious practices of prayer, alms-giving and fasting as means to win over the attraction of the other or do we make use of this to come closer to God?

Let us return to God, reconcile with God, others and oneself, renewing life by means of prayer, alms-giving and fasting to obtain reward from God our heavenly Father. Amen.

God bless us all…Live Jesus

Fr. Ramesh George MSFS

rameshvkmsfs@gmail.com

9500930968