Ash Wednesday
Jesus referred to this latter practice
in New Testament times. Speaking to some people, he said: “If the miracles
which were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have, long ago, put on sackcloth and
sprinkled ashes on themselves, to show that they had turned from their sins!” Matthew 11:21
This brings us to the use of ashes in
our times. Each year on Ash Wednesday, we mark our foreheads with ashes. We do
this for two reasons.
First, ashes are a sign of repentance. They
indicate that we are sorry for our sins and will do penance for them during
Lent. This explains why the priest may say, when he marks us with ashes, “Turn
away from your sins and be faithful to the Gospel.”
Second, ashes are a sign of our
mortality. They indicate that we will die someday, to understand this second
sign, recall that right after Adam and Eve sinned, God said to them:
“Because of what you have done ... you
[will] go back to the soil
from which you were formed. You were
made from soil [dust], and you will become soil [dust] again.” Gen 3:17,19
This explains why the priest may also say, when he marks us
with ashes, “You are dust and to dust you shall return”
And so the ashes we will receive in a
few minutes have a twofold meaning.
First, they are a sign of our repentance.
They say that we are sorry for our sins and will do penance for them during
Lent.
Second, they are a sign of our
mortality. They say that we will die someday and have to give an account of our
lives to God.
This brings us to what we will do during
Lent.
For those ages 21 through 59, the Church
prescribes a minimal penance
of fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good
Friday.
And for everyone 14 years and over, the
Church prescribes abstinence from meat on all Fridays during Lent.
This leaves each of us to decide what
added personal penance we will perform. [Make suggestions that are appropriate
to those attending Mass.]
Let’s close by praying these words from
the Preface (Lenten II) of today’s Mass:
“Father...This great season of grace is
your gift to your family to renew us in spirit. You give us strength to purify
our hearts, to control our desires, and so to serve you in freedom. You teach
us how to live in this passing world with our hearts set on the world that will
never end.”
Jesus talks about religious
acts
"Do not make a show of them”
Imagine that you boarded a time machine and
flew backward into history to the time of Jesus. Imagine that you asked the
first five Jews you met this question:
“What are three religious acts you
routinely perform?” You’d probably be surprised to learn that each person would
give the same answer, saying, “Almsgiving, prayer, and fasting." These are
the same three religious acts that Jesus mentions in today’s gospel.
Speaking of almsgiving, Jesus says, “When
you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that
your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay
you. Speaking of praying, Jesus says, “Pray to your Rather in secret, and your
Father who sees in secret will repay you. Speaking of fasting, Jesus says, “(Hide
the fact that you are fasting.) And your Father who sees what is hidden will
repay you."
This brings us to the season of Lent, which
we begin today. Why does the Church use this reading to launch our observance
of Lent? The answer is simple.
Lent is a season when we try to recall in a
special way the suffering that Jesus endured for our sins and to do penance for
the sins that caused his suffering.
In keeping with this purpose, today's
gospel invites us to consider doing three things this Lent to show our sorrow
for our sins.
First, it invites us to consider giving
something extra to the poor. This explains the practice in some homes of
putting a Lenten bowl in the center of the dinner table.
During Lent the family cuts back on its
meal budgets and, after each meal, puts into the bowl what they saved on that
meal. At the end of lent they vote to determine to what charity they will give
the money.
Second, the gospel invites us to consider
being more prayerful during Lent.
This explains the practice among some
people of attending Mass daily, or at least one extra day a week, during Lent.
We do it, as Jesus says, not to be seen or
to impress one another, but as penance for our sins and for the suffering these
sins caused Christ.
The saddest of all sad things would be to
come to the end of Lent
without having done one concrete thing to
express our sorrow for our sins
and to prepare for the celebration of
Easter.
Let’s close by previewing the Prayer over
the Gifts that we will be praying in a few minutes. “Lord, help us to resist
temptation by our lenten works of charity and penance.
By this sacrifice may we be prepared to
celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ our Savior and be cleansed from
sin and renewed in spirit.”
(Mark Link, s.j.)
*****
From Fr. Tony Kadavil’s Collection
Introduction
Ash Wednesday (dies cinerum) is the Church’s Yom Kippur or the “Day of Atonement.” Its very name comes from the Jewish practice of doing penance wearing “sackcloth and ashes.” In the early Church, Christians who had committed serious sins were instructed to do public penance wearing sackcloth and ashes. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of full fast and abstinence. Fasting is prescribed to reinforce our penitential prayer during the Lenten season.
The prophet Joel, in the first reading, insists that we should experience a complete conversion of heart and not simply sorrow for our sins. Saint Paul in the second reading advises us “to become reconciled to God.” Today’s gospel instructs us to assimilate the true spirit of fasting and prayer.
The blessing of the ashes and the significance of the day: The priest, dipping his thumb into ashes (collected from burnt palms of the previous Palm Sunday), marks the forehead of each with the sign of the cross, saying the words, "Remember that are dust and to dust you will return" or “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” By marking the sign of the cross with ashes on the foreheads of her children, the Church gives us:
1) A firm conviction that:
a) we are mortal beings, b) our bodies will become dust when buried and ashes if cremated, and
c) our life-span is very brief and unpredictable;
2) A strong warning that we will be eternally punished if we do not repent of our sins and do penance; and
3) A loving invitation to realize and acknowledge our sinful condition and return to our loving and forgiving God with true repentance, as the prodigal son did.
Life messages:
We are invited to effect a real conversion and renewal of life during the period of Lent by fasting, penance, and reconciliation.
I- We are to do prayerful fasting:
a) by following the example of Jesus before his public ministry, and
b) by imitating the king and the people of Nineveh (Jon 3: 7), who fasted in sackcloth pleading for mercy from the Lord God, the Syrian King, Ben Hadad (I Kings 20: 31-34), who did not fast, but wore sackcloth and begged Israel’s King Ahab for his life), Queen Esther who fasted, begging God to save her people (Est 4:16), the soldiers of Judas Maccabaeus who fasted so greatly they felt too weak to fight (1 Mc 3:17) and St. Paul who observed "frequent fastings" (2 Cor 11:27).
Fasting:
True fasting is “tearing one’s heart and returning to God” with true repentance for one’s sins (Joel 2:13). It is “breaking unjust fetters, freeing the oppressed, sharing one’s bread with the hungry, clothing with the naked and home with the homeless, and not turning away from the needy relatives” (Is. 58:6-7).
Advantages of fasting:
a - It reduces the excessive accumulation of “fat” in our soul in the form of evil tendencies and evil habits (=spiritual obesity).
b - It gives us additional moral and spiritual strength.c - It offers us more time to be with God in prayer.
d - It encourages us to share our food and goods with the needy.
e - “There is joy in the salutary fasting and abstinence of Christians who eat and drink less in order that their minds may be clearer and more receptive to receive the sacred nourishment of God's word, which the whole Church announces and meditates upon in each day's liturgy throughout Lent” (Thomas Merton).
II - We are to lead a life of penance because:
1 - It is the model given by Jesus.
2 - It was his teaching: “If any one wishes to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” “Try to enter through the narrow gate.”3 - Theological reasons: a) it removes the weakness left by sin in our souls, b) it pays the temporary debt caused by sin, and c) it makes our prayers more fruitful.
III - We are to enlarge our hearts for reconciliation.
By receiving the ashes, we confess that we are sinners in need of the mercy of God, and we ask forgiveness for the various ways in which we have hurt our brothers and sisters. In the recent past, our Catholic community has experienced acute suffering caused by the scandalous behavior of a few of our spiritual leaders. Lent is a time for forgiveness and reconciliation. Let us allow the spirit of forgiveness to work its healing influence in our parishes and families. God bless you.
Anecdotes
1) “Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?”
Some of the senior citizens here today can remember a song that was popular exactly 41 years ago. In 1971, a group from Canada called the Five Man Electrical Band had a hit called “Signs.” The song is about how signs are always telling us what to do, and the chorus says, “Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?” Four decades later, the question it poses – “Can’t you read the sign?” — is one we might ask ourselves today. We are going to be signed with ash - the sign of our faith, the cross. “Can’t you read the sign?” The cross of ashes means that we are making a commitment – that we are undertaking Lent as a season of prayer and penitence, of dying to ourselves. It also describes our human condition: it says that we are broken, and need repair; that we are sinners and need redemption. Most importantly, it tells us that, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are to carry our crosses. It also reminds us that we are dust and ashes – mortal human beings carrying an immortal soul. (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/deaconsbench/)
2) Kill the Cyclops in you: The Cyclops is that strange monster of Greek mythology with one big eye in the middle of its forehead. We pretend to ignore the truth that, for 325 days of each year, we are all Cyclopes because there is ONE GREAT BIG “I” right in our heads! If we are skeptical about this assertion, we might watch our words for one day, from morning to night. What’s the first thing we think about each morning? “What am I going to do today? How will I do it? What will happen to me today? How will I feel today?” I, I, I. And all day long, what do we say to people? We say things like, “I think this” and “I think that” and “I agree” and “I disagree” and “I like this” and “I don’t like that” and “I just want to say...” I, I, I. And what’s the last thing that we think about at night? “I wish that so-and-so would stop doing thus-and-such to me” and “I really did a good job today” and “I wonder what I’ll do tomorrow.” The problem with seeing with one eye is that we’re half blind. Everything looks flat and two-dimensional because with only one eye, we have no depth-perception. Consequently, we go wrong in assessing people. In Greek mythology, the Cyclops was killed when Odysseus and four of his men took a spare staff of the Cyclops, hardened its tip in the fire and used that to destroy the monster’s one big eye. It is precisely this that we must do on Ash Wednesday. With two strokes of his thumb smeared with ash on our forehead, the priest will cross that “I” out of our head. By this sacramental ritual we are asked to take that “I” at the front of our mind and cross it out by “self-denial” and “self- mortification.” Doing so will help us to see the beautiful creatures of God all around us and replace “I” with “You." (Condensed from Fr. J. K. Horn)
3) A little boy had just returned home from an Ash Wednesday church service. The little girl from next door asked him what the smudge was on his forehead. He replied, "It's Ash Wednesday." "What's Ash Wednesday?" she asked. "Oh," he replied, "It's when Christians begin their diet."
5) A two-year-old had gone with her family to her church's Ash Wednesday service. She was upset that her mother was not taking her to the altar with the rest of the family. She was overheard exclaiming: "But I want to get a tattoo just like Daddy's!"
***************
2. From the Connections:
THE WORD:
The readings for this first day of the Lenten journey to Easter call us to turn.
In Hebrew, the word for repentance is to turn, like the turning of the earth to the sun at this time of year, like the turning of soil before spring planting. The Lenten journey that begins on this Ash Wednesday calls us to repentance -- to turn away from those things that separate us from God and re-turn to the Lord.
In today’s Gospel, from his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructs his listeners on the Christian attitude and disposition toward prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Such acts are meaningful only if they are outward manifestations of the essential turningthat has taken place within our hearts.
Around 400 B.C., a terrible invasion of locusts ravaged Judah. The prophet Joel saw this catastrophe as a symbol of the coming “Day of the Lord.” The prophet summoned the people to repent, to turn to the Lord with fasting, prayer and works of charity.
In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul alternates between anger and compassion, between frustration and affection in defending his authority and mandate as an apostle in the face of attack by some members of the Corinthian community. In today’s second reading, the apostle appeals for reconciliation among the members of the community, for a re-turn to the one faith shared by the entire Church.
HOMILY POINTS:
As the earth will “turn” toward the sun in the weeks ahead transforming the dark and cold of winter into the light and warmth of spring, so these ashes mark the beginning of a Lenten transformation of our souls and spirits.
The Spirit who called Jesus to the wilderness calls us, as well, to a forty-day “desert experience,” a time to peacefully and quietly renew and re-create our relationship with God, that he might become the center of our lives in every season.
3. Fr. Jude Botelho:
Once again we begin the season of Lent with this Ash Wednesday celebration. Lent is a time for repentance and renewal yet the Preface of Lent will call it the joyful season of Lent. We should remind ourselves that originally Lent was a time for preparation for Baptism and for Easter. Later on as the practice of adult baptisms died out, it became a time of baptismal renewal as well as a time of repentance and a proximate preparation for Easter. As we begin this new season may we find our joy in coming back to God.
The key ceremony on Ash Wednesday is the imposition of the ashes on our forehead. “Remember thou art dust and to dust thou shall return.” In a sense, this ritual reminds us of our beginning and our end, we are back to basics. It is meant to give us a right perspective of life. We are dust, we are finite, we are human, we are creatures, dependent and capable of mistakes. At times, with all our successes, our possibilities, our capabilities and the power we try to acquire, we are led to believe we can manage on our own, that we don’t need anybody, we don’t need God! Lent puts things in proper perspective. We need God, who does not look down on the dust that we are, our humanness, our weakness, but renew his covenant to human beings, he breathes life into the earth and creates us and recreates us.
The first reading from the prophet Joel reminds us that sometimes God invited the people of Israel to come back to Him through the great disasters that befell them. It was after one such disaster that the prophet Joel conveyed to the people the message that God would come to their rescue. The disaster that befell the Israelites at that time was the invasion of locusts that came in large numbers from the desert and devoured everything. The prophet Joel called them to prayer and to penance. He assured them that if they came back to Yahweh, He would provide them with food they needed. He reminded them that everyone should do penance, the priests and the laity, the young and the old, even the children. They needed to ask God’s pardon as a family, as one community and God would forgive them all.
The Nail Post
A father wanted his son to really understand the importance of making right choices, of obeying and doing what’s right. So if his son made a bad choice or a wrong decision, he’s give him a hammer and a nail to take out into the backyard and pound into a fence post. When the son went through the whole day making good decisions, he’d let the boy go out and take out one of those nails. Until the boy was fifteen, there were always two or three nails in the post, -seemed he’d be nailing new ones as often as he’d pull out others. The youth started to mature and make better decisions and finally one day all the nails were removed from the post. That was when his dad took him back and said, “I want you to notice something about the post.” The son looked at the post for a moment and realized that all the nails that once were driven in and then later removed had left small holes in the post. The holes were the remaining effects of the nails. His dad said, “I want to tell you something about bad choices and decisions. Even though you may be totally forgiven from your bad choices or decisions, and there are no nails visible, there are the remaining effects, the consequences, of those choices or decisions; just like the holes in that fencepost.” Author Unknown
A Good Lesson
A young man, a student in one of our universities, was one day taking a walk with a professor, who was commonly called the students' friend, from his kindness to those who waited on his instructions. As they went along, they saw lying in the path a pair of old shoes, which they supposed belonged to a poor man who was employed in a field close by, and who had nearly finished his day's work. The student turned to the professor, saying: "Let us play the man a trick: we will hide his shoes, and conceal ourselves behind those bushes, and wait to see his perplexity when he cannot find them." "My young friend," answered the professor, "we should never amuse ourselves at the expense of the poor. But you are rich, and may give yourself a much greater pleasure by means of the poor man. Put a coin into each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch how the discovery affects him." The student did so, and they both placed themselves behind the bushes close by. The poor man soon finished his work, and came across the field to the path where he had left his coat and shoes. While putting on his coat he slipped his foot into one of his shoes; but feeling something hard, he stooped down to feel what it was, and found the coin. Astonishment and wonder were seen upon his countenance. He gazed upon the coin, turned it round, and looked at it again and again. He then looked around him on all sides, but no person was to be seen. He now put the money into his pocket, and proceeded to put on the other shoe; but his surprise was doubled on finding the other coin. His feelings overcame him; he fell upon his knees, looked up to heaven and uttered aloud a fervent thanksgiving, in which he spoke of his wife, sick and helpless, and his children without bread, whom the timely bounty, from some unknown hand, would save from perishing. The student stood there deeply affected, and his eyes filled with tears. "Now," said the professor, "are you not much better pleased than if you had played your intended trick?" The youth replied, "You have taught me a lesson which I will never forget. I feel now the truth of those words, which I never understood before: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Author unknown, retold by Artin Tellalian
A young man had just hiked across a long, barren stretch of land. Reporters asked what he found hardest about it. “Was it the loneliness of the hike?” “No,” he replied. “Was it the hot sun beating down on you?” “No”, he replied. “Was it the dangerous nights by the roadside?” “No”, he replied. “Well then, what was it?” “The sand in my shoes,” he said. That is often the case in everyday life. It is not the big things that get us down, more often, it’s the tiny irritations! May be, accepting the tiny irritations with family, friends, colleagues, office workers, that come our way each day, could be a good way to start our Lent! Anonymous
Renewal
Once, long ago a musician well-known for the beauty and sweetness of his songs was asked to play for the royal audience. The king was so pleased with the performance that he made the musician part of the royal court. His highness loved one particular song so much that he had the musician play it over and over, several times a day. It went well for the musician who had everything he needed, and fame and prestige as well. After a time the musician grew weary of repeating the melody and no longer played with the same zest and passion as he once did. This disturbed the king, because his favourite song now lacked much of its original vibrancy. So in order to re-kindle the musician’s interest in the song, the king ordered someone, who had never heard the song before, to be brought to the palace everyday. When the musician saw the new person he was inspired and he played with new vigour. But the king was getting tired of finding a new person everyday and so he consulted his advisors who suggested that the musician should be blinded! The musician was drugged into sleep and his eyes put out so he never knew what had happened, and he never saw a human form again. From that time on the blind musician would sit continually before the king. Whenever the king wanted to hear his favourite melody, he would say. “O musician, here comes someone new, a person who has never heard you play before.” And the musician would play his song with the utmost skill and spiritedness, as if for the first time. What is the meaning of this parable? It is left to you to determine! For in the words of an Eastern sage: “When you go to the market to buy fruit from the green grocer, you do not ask him to chew it for you!”Anonymous
Dr. Karl Menninger, the famous psychiatrist, once gave a lecture on mental health, and then answered questions from the audience. “What would you advice a person to do,” asked one man, “if that person felt a nervous breakdown was coming on?” Most people expected him to reply, “Consult a psychiatrist.” To their disappointment he replied, “Lock your house, go across the railway tracks, find someone in need and do something to help that person.” –Don’t sit and pout. Get up and do something for others! Brian Cavanaugh in ‘The Sower’s Seed’
Once, a king was walking through the streets of the capital city when he came upon a beggar who immediately asked him for money. The king did not give him any money. Instead he invited him to his palace. The beggar took up the king’s offer. On the appointed day he made his way to the royal palace, and was duly ushered into the king’s presence. However as he came into the king’s presence he was acutely conscious of his rags and felt ashamed of them. They were an eloquent symbol of the wretchedness of his life. The king an exceptionally kind man, received him warmly, took pity on him, and among other things gave him a new suit of clothes. However, a few days later the beggar was back to begging on the streets, dressed in his old rags. Why did he give up the new suit? Because he knew that to wear it would mean that he would have to live a new life. It would mean giving up the life of a beggar. This he was not prepared to do. It wasn’t that the new life did not appeal to him. It was just that a change of life would be slow, painful and uncertain. In other words he was too much steeped in habit to change. Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday and Holy day Liturgies’
4. From Sermons.com
Nowadays the cost of a dinner and a movie keeps going up, and a vacation can be especially expensive, but if I really want to go somewhere I just take the change out of my pocket and lay it on the desk. It's like a time machine. Each coin has a year stamped on it, and just thinking about the year helps me travel back in my memory.
1979 is the year my first son was born and the year I started in ministry. 1981 and 1983 are the years my daughter and second son were born. 1988 is the last time the Dodgers won the pennant. 1990 was when I moved to Indiana from Los Angeles. 1994 and 2004 were the years I turned forty and fifty. 2002 was when I moved to Pennsylvania. And it's getting harder to find, but any coin with 1954 is my birth year.
I enjoy laying out the change in my pocket and just glancing at the dates. It's nice to carry these little reminders of important events, good and bad. But they're just one kind of reminder. We carry all sorts of reminders around. One of the most obvious is our date book, which we use to remind us of important events that are not in the past but in the future. We especially need a reminder for Ash Wednesday. It comes in the middle of nowhere. It's not like Christmas or Independence Day that fall on the same dates every year. Ash Wednesday is all over the map, from early February to sometime in March. What usually happens is that we notice someone with a smudge on their forehead and suddenly realize: was that today? Really, it's not very convenient. The least Ash Wednesday could do is fall on a Sunday.
It is an interruption. And it's an unwelcome reminder of an unpleasant fact. Dust we are and to dust we shall return. The grass withers and the flower fades....
The Lord's Prayer: A Walking Prayer
Every evening I walk three miles as part of my losing campaign against high blood pressure and my imperialistic waist line. I generally don't wear an iPod, because I prefer to take my exercise without anesthesia. (I enjoy the sounds of nature, and I want to be able to hear the cars honk before they run me over.) Sometimes I devote the time to prayer, and I have found that the Lord's Prayer makes a good outline. Here's how I do it:
I address God as my Father by adoption through the grace of Jesus Christ and give thanks for His salvation.
I pledge to keep His name holy in all my conduct. I remind Him of ways I have done this in the past, and ask Him forgiveness for all the ways I have failed to do so as well.
I ask that His will be done, here on earth through me, as efficiently as it is done by His angels in heaven. I give examples of how I think I could do that; I ask His guidance and pledge my obedience.
I ask for my material needs for the day, itemizing and discussing them. I give thanks for specific instances of His providence in the past.
I ask forgiveness, but only to the degree I am willing to forgive others. If I have a problem, I discuss it in detail.
If I am facing any particular temptations, I discuss them and ask God to help me resist them. If I have recently survived any tough tests, I discuss them and thank God that He gave me the power to overcome them.
I tell God about the evil things that frighten me, and ask Him to deliver me from them. I also give thanks for past rescues.
You get the idea. When you pray like this, it's amazing how time flies!
Kenneth W. Collins, Praying
I'm Sorry, Father
A Catholic priest working in an inner city was walking down an alley one evening on his way home when a young man came down the alley behind him and poked a knife against his back. "Give me your money," the young man said.
The priest opened his jacket and reached into an inner pocket to remove his wallet, exposing his clerical collar. "Oh, I'm sorry, Father," said the young man, "I didn't see your collar. I don't want YOUR money."
Trembling from the scare, the priest removed a cigar from his shirt pocket and offered it to the young man. "Here," he said. "Have a cigar."
"Oh, no, I can't do that," the young man replied, "I gave them up for Lent."
Let Us Play
My dear friends, let us play. Yes, you heard me correctly. Now is a time for play. In fact, today the church begins that time of the year when we do our most serious playing.
And playing is a serious business, you know. Ask any teacher of children. Better still, watch children at play. No wonder they are tired at the end of the day. They work hard at playing. They take it seriously.
Play is the child's laboratory for learning about life. Children who have never played at being grown-up tend to be handicapped in some way when they have to confront the actual experience. Boys who have never been allowed to play with dolls can hardly be expected to hold their own infants with ease and loving confidence. It has to be a later learning if it is ever learned at all. Play may be a more valuable tool for learning than all the educational resources manufactured by the professionals.
That is why, on this Ash Wednesday, the church summons us to a season of play. Our Lord has told us, if we are to enter the kingdom of heaven, we must become as little children. And one of childhood's most important occupations is play.
Am I wrong in my impression, however, that most of us do not come to church to play, that play is the furthest thing from our minds? Play seems foreign to our understanding of religion, and if it is to be found in church at all, it is best restricted to the nursery and the carefully supervised activities of the youth groups. H.L. Mencken defined a puritan as a person with the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, might be happy. I know the puritan still comes to church with me from time to time. What about you?
Am I wrong in my impression, however, that most of us do not come to church to play, that play is the furthest thing from our minds? Play seems foreign to our understanding of religion, and if it is to be found in church at all, it is best restricted to the nursery and the carefully supervised activities of the youth groups. H.L. Mencken defined a puritan as a person with the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, might be happy. I know the puritan still comes to church with me from time to time. What about you?
Kendall K. McCabe and Michael L. Sherer
Recharging Your Batteries
An Italian newspaper recently carried a story about a young couple in Milan who seemed particularly devoted in their worship. The priest at a cathedral there reported that the pair spent an hour or more on a regular basis sitting before a statue of the Virgin Mary. Naturally, he assumed they were praying.
Turns out, this young couple was recharging their cell phone. They had noticed a stray electric cable sticking out of the wall behind the statue of the Virgin Mary. Whenever their phone's power supply dwindled, the young couple came to the church and re-charged it from the cable behind the Virgin Mary. The priest states that the young couple is welcome to use his church for this purpose.
We talk about coming to church to "re-charge our batteries," but this is ridiculous. What looked to the unobservant eye like an act of piety was actually a self-serving ploy to save money. This young couple was using the church for their own needs. And we're shocked, shocked, I tell you--until we realize that we may be guilty of the same mistake.
King Duncan
A Walking Children's Sermon
The Rev. Timothy J. Kennedy tells a wonderful true story that is perfect for Ash Wednesday. It was told to him by a colleague, Pastor Chris Mietlowski. It concerned a baptism that Mietlowski once performed on an infant named Eric. Mietlowski took Eric in his arms and traced the cross of Christ on Eric's forehead using a special anointing oil.
Following worship, Eric's family celebrated with a big backyard party. Family and friends ate burgers and chips and played volleyball under a summer sun. Eric, being only six months old, was left to nap in his backyard stroller. When Mom got him up, whoops. Basted on Eric's forehead was the image of the cross. Mom had forgotten to wash Eric's face following his baptism, and the oil that the pastor had traced onto his forehead acted the opposite of a sun screen. The Cross of Christ was imprinted on Eric's forehead. "For several weeks until it completely disappeared," says Rev. Kennedy, "that cross was a wonderful reminder as to the meaning of Baptism and a reminder that the Cross of Jesus was 'written' upon Eric's forehead."
And what a powerful witness it was, says Rev. Kennedy. "Eric's Mom and Dad had to explain the cross to the pediatrician, to the neighbors, to the stranger in the grocery store. For a few weeks, Eric was nothing less than a [living] children's sermon. It was only a bit of a sunburn to be sure, but [it was] the best basting a child can have to be marked with the cross of Christ! And why not? That cross is to be the foundation of that child's life."
If I read the little book of Joel right, God's desire is not that we wear a cross on our forehead, but that it be basted on our hearts. "Rend your heart and not your garments," says Joel 2:23. That's much harder to do, isn't it? It's much easier to rend your clothes than to rend your heart. It's much easier to wear a cross around your neck than it is to bear it daily in everything you do.
Timothy J. Kennedy
Others are as solemn and quiet as a tomb.
Some lift their hands high in the air,
But others wouldn't, even on a dare.
Christians are different in style and in song;
But if they are humble, to Christ they belong."
Some lift their hands high in the air,
But others wouldn't, even on a dare.
Christians are different in style and in song;
But if they are humble, to Christ they belong."
Traditional
Pancake Day
Every once in a while a whimsical story makes the news. Some years ago, the Associated Press carried a story about a woman in Olney, England, named Dawn Gallyot who defied snow and a biting wind to beat seven other women to the finish line in the annual Shrove Tuesday pancake race. In her first race, the 38-year-old schoolteacher made the 415-yard dash from a pub in the market square to the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul with a pancake and a frying pan in her hand in 73 seconds. That was 9.5 seconds slower than the previous year's pace. Each woman must flip a pancake in the frying pan at the start and at the finish of the race. The record is 58 seconds. Mrs. Gallyot reportedly wore a traditional headscarf and apron, but opted for modern running shoes.
Shrove Tuesday, known in England as Pancake Day, is traditionally the last day for merrymaking before the start of Lent. Pancakes are thought to be a good way to get in the eggs and fat that faithful church people were supposed to give up for Lent. Legend has it that the Olney race started in 1445 when a housewife, dashing to get to church on time, arrived at the service clutching in her hand a frying pan with a pancake still in it.
The pancake race is but one of many traditions that have grown up around the season of Lent. New Orleans' Mardi Gras is another - one last blowout before a season of denial...
From Fr. Tony Kadavil:
From Fr. Tony Kadavil:
1) The Potato Salad
Promise: Tony Campolo tells about a Church that one day every year
celebrates student recognition day. One year, after several students had spoken
quite eloquently, the pastor started his sermon in a striking way: “Young
people, you may not think you’re going to die, but you are. One of these days,
they’ll take you to the cemetery, drop you in a hole, throw some dirt on your
face and go back to the Church and eat potato salad.” We may not like to
acknowledge it, but someday, every one of us will have to face the “potato
salad promise”, that we will all die. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…..”
2) Kill the Cyclops in you: The
Cyclops is that strange monster of Greek mythology with one big eye in the
middle of its forehead. We pretend to ignore the truth that, for 325 days of
each year, we are all Cyclopes because there is ONE GREAT BIG “I” right in the middle of our heads! If we
are skeptical about this assertion, we might watch our words for one day, from
morning to night. What’s the first thing we think about each morning? “What
am I going to do today?
How will I do it? What
will happen to me today?
How will I feel today?” I, I, I. And all day long, what do we
say to people? We say things like, “I think
this” and “I think that” and “I agree” and “I disagree” and “I like
this” and “I don’t like that”
and “I just want to
say…” I, I, I. And what’s
the last thing that we think about at night? “I wish that so-and-so would stop doing thus-and-such to me” and “I really did a good job today” and “I wonder what I’ll
do tomorrow.” The problem with seeing with one eye is that we’re half
blind. Everything looks flat and two-dimensional because with only one eye, we
have no depth-perception. Consequently, we go wrong in assessing people. In
Greek mythology, the Cyclops was killed when Odysseus and four of his men took
a spare staff of the Cyclops, hardened its tip in the fire and used that to
destroy the monster’s one big eye. It is precisely this that we must do
on Ash Wednesday. With two strokes of his thumb smeared with ash on
our forehead, the priest will cross that “I” out of our head. By this sacramental ritual we are asked
to take that “I” at the
front of our mind and cross it out by “self-denial” and “self- mortification.”
Doing so will help us to see the beautiful creatures of God all around us and
replace “I” with “You.” (Condensed from Fr.
J. K. Horn).
3) “Do this,
don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?” Some of the senior
citizens here today can remember a song that was popular exactly 49 years ago
this year. In 1971, a group from Canada called the Five Man Electrical Band had a hit
called “Signs.” The song is about
how signs are always telling us what to do, and the chorus says, “Do
this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?” Nearly five decades
later, the question it poses – “Can’t you read the sign?” — is one we might ask
ourselves today. We are going to be signed with ash in the sign of our Faith,
the cross. “Can’t you read the sign?” The cross of ashes means that we are
making a commitment – that we are undertaking Lent as a season of prayer and
penitence, of dying to ourselves. It also describes our human condition: it
says that we are broken and need repair; that we are sinners and need
redemption. Most importantly, it tells us that, as followers of Jesus Christ,
we are to carry our crosses. It also reminds us that we are dust and ashes –
mortal human beings carrying an immortal soul. (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/deaconsbench/)
4) A living
children’s sermon: The Rev. Timothy J. Kennedy tells a wonderful true
story that is perfect for Ash Wednesday. It was told to him by a colleague,
Pastor Chris Mietlowski. It concerned a Baptism that Mietlowski once performed
on an infant named Eric. During the Baptism, Mietlowski traced the cross of
Christ on Eric’s forehead using the oil of catechumens. Following ceremony,
Eric’s family celebrated the occasion with a big backyard party. Family and friends
ate burgers and chips and played volleyball under a summer sun. Eric, being
only six months old, was left to nap in his backyard stroller. When Mom got him
up, whoops. Basted on Eric’s forehead was the image of the cross. Mom had
forgotten to wash Eric’s forehead following his Baptism, and the oil that the
pastor had traced onto his forehead acted the opposite of a sunscreen. The
Cross of Christ was imprinted on Eric’s forehead as a sunburn. Eric’s Mom and
Dad had to explain the cross to the pediatrician, to the neighbors, to the
stranger in the grocery store. For a few weeks, Eric was nothing less than a
[living] children’s sermon. It was only a bit of a sunburn to be sure, but [it
was] the best basting a child can have to be marked with the cross.
5) Lent then and now: So,
we begin another season of Lent. Those of you who are as old as I am will
remember Lent as a more severe season than it seems to be today. The
fasting required was
more challenging; adults had to fast every day of Lent, and fasting included
two meatless meals out of the three, with, of course, nothing between meals.
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday demanded full abstinence from meat as well as
fasting. So, Abstinence from meat was an everyday Lenten thing, not just an Ash
Wednesday/all Lenten Fridays practice. We ate a lot of macaroni and cheese in
those days! We made personal sacrifices, giving up smoking, candy,
alcohol or something else that we really liked. And generally, we practiced
self-denial on Sunday, not just on weekdays. We went to Church a lot more,
whether to daily Mass or Stations of the Cross or for prayer. Many feel that
Lent today is much easier. Encouragement is given to do positive things during
Lent, so many don’t give up much anymore. Most people don’t find their life
during Lent much different from their life in any other season. Following the
Second Vatican Council, the Church decided to take a risk and to risk treating
us like adults. While they removed many of the previous rules, they challenged
us to observe the season of Lent with all seriousness, to take responsibility for
our own spiritual growth. That is a lot harder than just following rules, but
it also bears the potential of really making Lent a time to change our lives
and truly become more Christlike. (Fr. Lawrence Mick).
6) The ash-cross
sign versus swoosh sign: In 1971, an art student at Portland State
University named Carolyn Davidson got a job doing some freelance design work
for a local sporting goods company. They were looking for a company logo, an
emblem. Carolyn Davidson came up with something in just a few hours. Everyone
liked what she did and thanked her. For a day’s work, she was paid $35. Little
did anyone realize what Carolyn Davidson had created. That design went on to
generate billions—and made history. What she came up with is the now-famous
Nike swoosh. It may be the most successful, most recognizable, most visible
corporate symbol in the world. Anyone in any language knows exactly what it
represents. And millions around the world know the phrase that goes with it:
“Just do it.” Graphic designers will tell you it’s a symbol without equal in
the world. But this morning, to begin the season of Lent, we will bear an
emblem even greater, more visible, more powerful: the cross, made of ashes. We
will wear it on our foreheads and carry it into the world as a sign of
repentance, and sacrifice, and a quiet but purposeful desire to change. And our
message—to ourselves and to those around us—is the same as the one from Nike:
“Just do it!” (Deacon Greg
Kandra)
FASTING AND
ABSTINENCE FOR LENT
1. Everyone
14 years of age or older is bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all
the Fridays in Lent including GOOD FRIDAY.
2. Everyone
18 years of age and under 60 years of age is bound to fast on Ash Wednesday and
Good Friday.
3. On these
two days of fast and abstinence only one full, meatless meal is allowed. Two
other meatless meals, sufficient to maintain strength, may be taken according
to each one’s needs, but together they should not equal one full meal. Eating
between meals is not permitted on these two days, but liquids, including milk
and fruit juices, are allowed. When health or ability to work would be
seriously affected, the law does not oblige.
4. To
disregard completely the law of fast and abstinence is a serious matter.
5. Going to
Mass every Sunday, doing acts of charity, forgiveness, and good deeds of virtue
are obligations of daily life of Catholics especially during Lent.
Give Up
GIVE UP grumbling! Instead, “In everything give thanks.”
Constructive criticism is OK, but “moaning, groaning, and complaining” are not
Christian disciplines.
GIVE UP 10 to 15 minutes in bed! Instead, use that time in
prayer, Bible study and personal devotion.
GIVE UP looking at other people’s worst points. Instead
concentrate on their best points. We all have faults. It is a lot easier to
have people overlook our shortcomings when we overlook theirs first.
GIVE UP speaking unkindly. Instead, let your speech be generous
and understanding. It costs so little to say something kind and uplifting. Why
not check that sharp tongue at the door?
GIVE UP your hatred of anyone or anything! Instead, learn
the discipline of love. “Love covers a multitude of sins.”
GIVE UP your worries and anxieties! Instead, trust God with
them. Anxiety is spending emotional energy on something we can do nothing
about: like tomorrow! Live today and let God’s grace be sufficient.
GIVE UP TV one evening a week! Instead, visit some lonely or
sick person. There are those who are isolated by illness or age. Why isolate
yourself in front of the “tube?” Give someone a precious gift: your time!
GIVE UP buying anything but essentials for yourself!
Instead, give the money to God. The money you would spend on the luxuries could
help someone meet basic needs. We are called to be stewards of God’s riches,
not consumers.
GIVE UP judging by appearances and by the standard of the
world! Instead, learn to give up yourself to God. There is only one who has the
right to judge, Jesus Christ. (Craig Gates, Jackson, MS, “What to Give up for
Lent”)
Joke of the week
“You are a dummy: The
Church was packed with the faithful eager to receive ashes on Ash Wednesday.
Pat, Father Kelly’s janitor, offered to help. “OK,” said Father, “now these are
the words you say: ‘Remember, man, you are dust, and unto dust you shall
return.” Pat prepared to start at the opposite end of the communion rail. (This
was in the old days, as you can realize.) But Pat came hurrying over to Father:
“Father, what are those words again?” Father told him, Pat went back to his
station, but in a moment, he was back, asking for the words, which Father
repeated. When Pat came back the third time Father exploded: “You are a dummy
and you’ll always be a dummy.” Pat didn’t come back but when the padre and the
janitor came close to each other at the middle the priest was dumbfounded to
hear the words Pat was saying: “You are a dummy and you’ll always be a dummy”
Msgr. Arthur Tonne – Jokes Priest Can Tell
Human beings with no
God experience: In an ancient temple, a number of pigeons lived
happily on roof top. When the renovation of the temple began for the annual
temple feast the pigeons relocated themselves to a Church nearby. The
existing pigeons in the Church accommodated the newcomers very well. Christmas
was nearing and the Church was given a facelift. All the pigeons had to move
out and look for another place. They were fortunate to find a place in a
Mosque nearby. The pigeons in the Mosque welcomed them happily. It was
Ramadan time and the Mosque was repainted. All the pigeons now came to the same
ancient temple. One day the pigeons on top found some communal clashes
below in a market square. The baby pigeon asked the mother
pigeon “Who are these people? The mother replied, they are “Human
beings”. The baby asked,
“But why are they fighting with each other…?” The mother said, “These human beings going to temple are called ‘Hindus’ and the people going to Church are called ‘Christians’ and the people going to Mosque are called ‘Muslims’.
The Baby pigeon asked, “Why is it so? When we were in the temple, we were called Pigeons, when we were in the Church, we were called Pigeons and when we were in the Mosque, we were called Pigeons. Shouldn’t they all be called just ‘Human beings’ wherever they go”? The mother Pigeon said,
“You and I and our Pigeon friends have experienced God, and that’s why we are living here in a highly elevated place peacefully. These people have yet to experience God. Hence, they are living below us and fighting and killing each other.”
“But why are they fighting with each other…?” The mother said, “These human beings going to temple are called ‘Hindus’ and the people going to Church are called ‘Christians’ and the people going to Mosque are called ‘Muslims’.
The Baby pigeon asked, “Why is it so? When we were in the temple, we were called Pigeons, when we were in the Church, we were called Pigeons and when we were in the Mosque, we were called Pigeons. Shouldn’t they all be called just ‘Human beings’ wherever they go”? The mother Pigeon said,
“You and I and our Pigeon friends have experienced God, and that’s why we are living here in a highly elevated place peacefully. These people have yet to experience God. Hence, they are living below us and fighting and killing each other.”
