Blessing of Ashes
These palm leaves have turned from green branches into gray
ashes. This is the way it goes with us. We do not remain the same. We grow
older, we make life gray and dusty for ourselves and for others. These ashes
remind us of the brittleness of life, of our guilt and the penance we need. We
will humbly receive these ashes as we are marked with the sign of the cross,
for our hearts are willing to follow Jesus on the way of self-denial and love.
Introduction by the Celebrant
Today we begin our forty days of Lent, forty days of
preparation for Easter. Why these forty days of penance? To return to our roots
— to God, to our better selves — and consequently also to our neighbor. In many
ways we have tried to be our own gods, to decide for ourselves what is right or
wrong, and we have ended up by making ourselves the center of the world at the
expense of ourselves, of God, of our neighbor. Now is the right time to return
to God and to turn to the people around us. We express our brokenness and our
readiness to change when, after the gospel, we receive the ashes.
In many regions of the world people celebrate carnival in
the days before Lent with much noise and merrymaking. Often they wear masks for
the occasion. But today Lent begins, the time to put off our masks and to turn
our face and heart to God and to people. In this holy season we reflect on the
true meaning of our lives. Who am I and what am I living for? Am I living for
God and the community? We shall be invited to receive ashes on our foreheads
with the invitation, “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel.” Away,
then, with all masks and return to God, to your true self and to one another as
God’s people.
****
Those who are frequent travelers are familiar with the use
of GPS (Global Positioning System). When they have to drive to an unfamiliar or
distant place, they set their GPS to guide them through the right route to
their destination. People have often depended on GPS to reach their
destinations. During travels, we may make wrong turns and take wrong exits.
Every time we make an error, the GPS patiently “recalculates” and guides us on
to the right route from the wrong location we are at.
The season of Lent is like the GPS. We have set out on a
long journey through “narrow” and “rough” paths (Matt 7:13-14) toward an
exciting destination. But the journey is hard and long, and we often take wrong
exits or digress into dangerous alleys. The season of Lent, with its gentle
reminders, warnings, and exhortations, gives us the necessary software to
recognize our errors, locate the right route, and get back on the path to our
right destination. Happy journeying!
The rite of the imposition of ashes puts us on the "way
of true conversion." In the background are the words of the Sermon on the
Mount which propose in a different hue the three major characteristics of
Jewish spirituality: almsgiving, prayer and fasting. They are the three stars
that should shine in the Lenten sky of every Christian; three values that
have to be lived in a new way. It's not about morality or external devotions
but vital choices born of love that translate into love for God and neighbor.
****
From Fr. Tony Kadavil:
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.” The Old Testament tells us how the people of Nineveh (Jonah 3:5),
King Ben Hadad of Syria (1 Kg 20:31-34), and Queen Esther (4:16) fasted wearing
sackcloth and ashes. In the early Church, Christians who had committed serious
sins were instructed to do public penance wearing sackcloth and ashes. The
Church instructs us to observe Ash Wednesday and Good Friday as 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 regret for
our sins. In Psalm 51, our Responsorial Psalm today, the Psalmist acknowledges
his sin and begs God for His Mercy. 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 year’s Palm Sunday), marks the forehead of each with the
sign of the cross, saying the words, “Remember that you 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 reminds us a) that our bodies will become
dust when buried and ashes if cremated, and b) that 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, become reconciled with God, asking His pardon
and forgiveness, and do penance; and 3- a loving invitation to realize and
acknowledge our sinful condition, return to our loving and forgiving
God with true repentance as the prodigal son did and ask Him for the
renewal of our life.
Ash Wednesday messages:
# 1: We need to purify and renew our lives during the period
of Lent by repentance, which means expressing sorrow for sins by turning away
from occasions of sins and returning to God. We need to express our repentance
by being reconciled with God daily, by asking for forgiveness from those whom
we have offended and by giving unconditional forgiveness to those who have
offended us.
# 2: We need to do prayerful fasting and little acts of
penance for our sins and share our blessings generously with others, following
the example of 40 days of fasting and prayer by Jesus before his public
ministry. Fasting reduces our “spiritual obesity” or the excessive accumulation
of “fat” in our soul in the form of evil tendencies, evil habits and evil
addictions. It also gives us additional moral and spiritual strength and
encourages us to share our blessings with the needy.
This custom was introduced by Pope Gregory I (served
September 3, 590 to March 12, 604; McBrien, Lives of the Popes, p.
96), and it was enacted as a universal practice in all of Western Christendom
by the Synod of Benevento (AD 1091). Since the 11th century, receiving ashes on
the first day of Lent has been a universal Christian practice. It was Pope
Urban II who in the 11th century recommended that all Catholics take part in
the practice of receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday. In the 12th century it became
customary that the ashes used on Ash Wednesday were made by burning the
previous year’s palm branches.
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. In Psalm 51,
our Responsorial Psalm today, the Psalmist begs God for Mercy, acknowledges his
sin, expresses his repentance and begs for a “clean heart: and a “steadfast
spirit” with which to live a changed life and persevere in it. 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.
According to the Bible scholar Dr. Watson, it is one of the great ironies of
our Faith that, on this day that seems so negative and so focused on death and
sin, more people come to Church than on almost any day of the year, except
Christmas and Easter. The reason probably is that today, we are all equally
humbled before God, accepting the Lenten message: ‘Repent, believe the Good
News, turn away from your sins and turn back to Jesus Christ.’
The blessing of the ashes and its significance: The
priest dipping his thumb into ashes (collected from burnt palms of the previous
year’s Palm Sunday), marks the forehead of each with the sign of the cross,
saying the words, “Remember that you 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.
Ash Wednesday messages: We are invited to
produce a real conversion and renewal of life during the period of Lent by
fasting, penance, reconciliation and generous sharing.
I- We are to spent time in prayer, talking to God and
listening to Him.
Prayer helps us to turn our attention to God and turn away
from what keeps us from God.
When we pray, we listen to the Good News God whispers to us
in mental prayer or through meditation on the Bible or in the Rosary.
By increasing the quality and the quantity of our prayer, we get strength to
fight against our temptations and grow in intimacy or relationship with God.
Our prayer life can be enhanced during Lent by participating in the daily Mass,
by making the Stations of the Cross, and by reading the Holy Bible every day,
applying the message to our lives.
II- We are to fast:
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 Kgs 20:31-34), who did not fast, but wore sackcloth and begged
Israel’s King Ahab for his life); Queen Esther who fasted, put ashes and dirt
on her head and wore “garments of distress” instead of her royal robes, 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).
(Historical note: In the past, the Greek Orthodox Christians had
180 days of fasting and the Orthodox as well as Catholic Syrian Christians had
225 to 290 days of fasting every year. The Roman Church also had a number of fast
days. Technically speaking, fasting is now only required on two days, Ash
Wednesday and Good Friday in Lent. In the United States, in addition,
abstinence alone is commanded on all Fridays of Lent).
Biblical Fasting: True fasting is “tearing one’s heart and
returning to God” with true repentance for one’s sins (Jl 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). Fasting allows us
to subordinate our bodily desires and needs to those of our soul. It allows us
to control our desires rather than let them control us. By fasting we learn to
control a desire that is necessary for survival (eating), and control desires
for things that they don’t really need to survive, like drugs, sex or booze.
Following the Biblical instruction, let us fast not only from food, but also
from foul and dirty language, judging others, gossiping, and verbal negatives.
Advantages of fasting:
i) – It reduces the excessive accumulation of “fat” in our
soul in the form of evil tendencies and evil habits (=spiritual obesity).
ii) – It gives us additional moral and spiritual strength.
iii) – It offers us more time to be with God in prayer.
iv) – It encourages us to share our food and goods with the needy.
v) – “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).
III – 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” and “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.
IV – 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 very
recent past, our Catholic community has again experienced acute suffering
caused by the scandalous behavior of a few of our spiritual leaders. Lent
is a time for forgiveness and reconciliation. “Now is the acceptable
time. Now is the day of salvation!” Let us allow the spirit of forgiveness to
work its healing influence in our parishes and families.
V- We must share our blessings generously and
sacrificially with others by alms giving: Jesus, who gave everything
down to his last drop of blood, tells us to follow him, by giving of ourselves,
our time, our talents, and our money generously. By Almsgiving, we highlight
others as being more important than ourselves and give ourselves to them as
Jesus gave Himself to others. Pope Leo XIII said, “Once the demands of
necessity and propriety have been met, the rest of your money belongs to the
poor.” St. John Chrysostom said—and St. Ambrose echoed him—”For the man who has
two shirts in his closet, one belongs to him; the other belongs to the man who
has no shirt.”
Pope Francis’ Ash Wednesday message summarized (March
2017): Lent, the Holy Father reminded, is the time for saying no. “No
to the spiritual asphyxia born of the pollution caused by indifference, by
thinking that other people’s lives are not my concern, and by every attempt to
trivialize life, especially the lives of those whose flesh is burdened by so much
superficiality. Lent means saying no to the toxic pollution of empty and
meaningless words, of harsh and hasty criticism, of simplistic analyses that
fail to grasp the complexity of problems, especially the problems of those who
suffer the most. “Lent is the time to say no to the asphyxia of a prayer that
soothes our conscience, of an almsgiving that leaves us self-satisfied, of a
fasting that makes us feel good. Lent is the time to say no to the asphyxia
born of relationships that exclude, that try to find God while avoiding the
wounds of Christ present in the wounds of his brothers and sisters: in a word,
all those forms of spirituality that reduce the faith to a ghetto culture, a
culture of exclusion.” Time to Remember:
Lent, he added, is a time for remembering, and asking
ourselves what we would be if God had closed his doors to us. “What would we be
without his mercy that never tires of forgiving us and always gives us the
chance to begin anew? “It is a time to set aside everything that isolates us,
encloses us and paralyzes us.” Pope Francis concluded, noting, “Lent is a time
of compassion”
Ash Wednesday anecdotes: (“Stories have power. They
delight, enchant, touch, teach, recall, inspire, motivate, challenge. They help
us understand. They imprint a picture on our minds. Consequently, stories often
pack more punch than sermons. Want to make a point or raise an issue? Tell a
story. Jesus did it. He called his stories ‘parables.'”(Janet Litherland, Storytelling
from the Bible). In fact Mark 4:34 says, “he [Jesus] did not speak to them
without a parable…”Visit the article: Picturing the Kingdom of God by
Fr. Brian Cavanaugh, TOR: http://www.appleseeds.org/picture.htm).
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 48 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?” Almost 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/)
2) 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…..”
3) 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)
Cyclopes
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 sun-screen. 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) Nail post: As a preparation for Lent, a
father wanted his son to really understand the importance of making right
choices, of obeying and doing what’s right. And so if his son made a bad choice
or a wrong decision, he’d give him a hammer and a nail to take out into the
backyard and pound into a fence post. Every day 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 son, 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.”
6) Find someone in need: Dr. Karl
Menninger, the famous psychiatrist, once gave a lecture on mental health, and
then answered questions from the audience. “What would you advise 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 Seeds).
7) Why are you late to return from
school? Ronald Levy, a first grader in Philadelphia, was told to come
home directly from school, but he was late almost every day. The difference was
as much as 20 minutes. His mother asked him: “Why is it that the schools ends
each day at the same time, and you get home so
much later?” He replied: “It depends on the cars.” “What do the cars have to do
with it?” “Well,” he said, “The Patrol boy was told to stop the cars, so we can
cross the road. Sometimes we have to wait for a long time for there to be cars
so he can stop them for us!” Lent is the period where God invites us to stop
the ‘cars’, so God can get more focus and attention in our lives.
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”)
Jewish public confession of personal and communal sins on
Yom Kippur, the “Day of Atonement” (Ash Wednesday is Church’s Yom Kippur)
“What shall we say before You, You who dwell on high and
what shall we declare before You, You who abide in the heavens? Do You not know
all things already, both the hidden and the revealed? You know the mysteries of
the universe and the hidden secrets of all living. You search out the heart of
man and probe all our thoughts and aspirations. Naught escapes You, neither is
anything concealed from Your sight. May it therefore be Your will, O L-rd, our
G-d and G-d of our fathers, to forgive us all our sins, to pardon all our
iniquities, and to grant us atonement for all our transgressions.
- For
the sin which we have committed before You under compulsion or of our own
will,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by hardening our hearts;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You unknowingly,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You with utterance of the lips;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by unchastity,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You openly or secretly;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You knowingly and deceitfully,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You in speech;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by wronging our neighbor,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by sinful meditation of the
heart;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by association with impurity,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by confession of the lips;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by spurning parents and
teachers,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You in presumption or in error;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by violence,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by the profanation of Your
name;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by unclean lips,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by impure speech;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by the evil inclination,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You wittingly or unwittingly;
(For all these, O God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us
atonement))
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by denying and lying,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by bribery;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by scoffing,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by slander;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You in commerce,
- And for
the sin which we have committed before You in eating and drinking;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by demanding usurious interest,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by stretching forth the
neck in pride;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by idle gossip,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You with wanton looks;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You with haughty eyes,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by effrontery; (For all
these, O God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement).
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by casting off the yoke of Your
commandments
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by contentiousness;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by ensnaring our neighbor,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by envy;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by levity,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by being stiff-necked;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by running to do evil,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by tale-bearing;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by vain oaths,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by causeless hatred;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by breach of trust,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You with confusion of mind;
(For all these, O God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us
atonement).
1. From Fr. Tony
Kadavil’s Collection
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."
4) It was Ash Wednesday, and a woman
sifting in a crowded Catholic church, leaned over to the young man next to her
and asked: "What is it that brings so many people out on a cold night, to
get a little dirt smeared on their foreheads, and to be reminded that they are
sinners and that they are going to die?" He looked at her somewhat oddly
and said, "It's habit, I guess."
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.
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
The Gospel of today speaks to us of three paths that can
lead us back to God: Prayer, Fasting and Alms. Jesus reminds us that these
three practices by themselves will not lead us to God unless we perform them
with a humble heart. Lent is firstly a time for renewing our prayer life. When
we pray, do not pray to be seen or heard by others? Is Jesus against praying in
public with the community or prayer group? What Jesus is speaking about is the
motive of our prayer practices. Are we putting on a performance? Would we do
the same if no one was watching? Our community prayer life needs to be balanced
with private and personal prayer. The second practice recommended is fasting
and abstinence during lent, but we are reminded that how we do it is more
important than what we do. If fasting makes us irritable, if we fast with long
faces and put on a gloomy look and make all around us miserable, there is
something wrong. The heart of fasting is to do without something that we like
and believe we can’t do without, in order to realize that God can supply our
every need. What about a weekly fast from our favourite TV serial? The third
practice of the devout Jew was almsgiving. Again the admonition is the same:
“So when you give alms do not have it trumpeted to win men’s admiration.”
Almsgiving is any kind of help, material or spiritual we give to our neighbour.
We could help our neighbour in need, we could give them good advice or
encouragement, we can help someone in spiritual danger, we can encourage people
to attend to their spiritual needs. Perhaps the help that people need is more
spiritual than material. Are we bringing people to Jesus by our words, our good
example and our deeds?
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
Minor Irritants of Life
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 tire 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
Find Someone in Need
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’
Ready to Change?
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’
May Lent find us ready to change whatever needs to be
changed in our life with God’s help!
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? 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
"Some Christians jump all over the room;
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." 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...
