ASH WEDNESDAY - YEAR A 5th March 2014 READINGS 1st Joel 2:12-18; Ps.51; 2nd 2Cor.5:20-6:2 Gospel: Mt.6:1-6.16-18 THEME OF THE READINGS Today is the beginning of Lent, a favourable time of penance and reconciliation. The readings stress, above all, inwardness, a repentant heart, and reconciled self. In the penitential liturgy of the first reading, God tells us through the prophet Joel: Return to me with all your heart ... and rend your hearts, and not your garments. In the Gospel, Jesus invites us to put externals to one side and pray, fast and give alms in secret, that is, from the interior of our heart. The reconciliation Saint Paul speaks about in the second reading means, above all, creation by another, a remaking of ones interior by the grace of God. Every human being is in-need of mercy and forgiveness of God for none of us can measure up to the Christian vocation by their own. We shall be smeared with the ashes burnt from the palm leaves used in the previous year Passion/Palm Sunday to celebrate the entry of the Messiah in the holy city. DOCTRINAL MESSAGE The greatness or misery of a person is measured by the state of their heart. Thoughts, decisions, behaviour, and intentions are all realties that come from the heart. Jesus Christ has come into the world to change mankind from within, so that his works become a true expression of the heart. In face of the behaviour of his contemporaries, marked by ostentatious display, Jesus assumed an attitude of perfect harmony with his conduct and his teaching. Jesus’ caution about ostentation or show-off is therefore, true. It is the right time to fast for we know that sometimes the bad or evil actions that come from our hearts indicate how sin has taken away the bridegroom from us – Mk.2:20. To give alms is a good thing, but to give alms to be appreciated by others and have our generosity praised is not Christian. Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, Jesus Christ warned us. Let us do good for the love of God the Father, whose face is reflected in the poor and those who need our help and our fraternal love. Charity should be extended to others with the right intention, without wishing to call attention, with the desire to please God the Father and to serve our brothers and sisters. Prayer and fasting are two great works to prepare for Easter. True conversion though, is not in fasting, praying and almsgiving, but in doing these with a renewed heart, free from egoism and personal interests. The attitude of Christ purifies the call of the prophets, especially the text of the prophet Joel in the first reading; to come back to the Lord with all one’s heart. The penitents of those times tore their garments to show their sorrow and repentance. We are signed with ashes on our forehead, fast and give alms to show sorrow for sins and to indicate what ought to happen in the heart. As St. Paul points out in the second reading; we are ambassadors of Christ. The new creature, emerging from baptism, is reconciled with God through Jesus Christ. He exhorts: We entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain – be reconciled to God. This exhortation at the beginning of Lent requires us to become the goodness of God in the world. PASTORAL SUGGESTIONS We are taking giant steps towards the Great Jubilee in Heaven at the end of time. Characteristic of the Jubilee is the spiritual joy that comes from the great gifts of the mystery of the Incarnation. However, prior to spiritual joy is the need for conversion, for the purification of our life, at least grazed by, if not sunk in, the darkness and sadness of sin while we are still pilgrims here on earth. In order to express conversion and to obtain interior purity, the Church proposes certain means: pilgrimage, holiness, love for the Church. To be a pilgrim is to be on the road to the Fathers house it is an exercise of practical asceticism, of repentence for human weakness, of constant vigilance over one’s own frailty (Incarnationis Mysterium, 7). To be a pilgrim is to recognize our need for a Father who comes to meet us, forgiving us and re-establishing us in the dignity of being his children. Another means the Church offers is the holy ascent, which evokes the passage from sin to grace which every Christian is called to accomplish (IM, 8). As we are all sinners, we are all called to take this step, to enter through this door of grace and mercy and to sincerely embrace the love of God. The holy door is Jesus Christ: to cross it means to confess our faith in him and his doctrine, as it has been transmitted by the Church through the two millennia. This holy door, which is Jesus Christ, gives us access to the Church, founded by him as a sign and instrument of union with God and with the whole human race. Christ and the Church are inseparably united, to save mankind. Why are we so awkward sometimes and insist on separating them? The last means the Church gives us in her maternal solicitude are the indulgences, the traditional name for the fullness of the Fathers mercy, who offers everyone his love, expressed primarily in the forgiveness of sins (IM, 9). The indulgences must not be separated from conversion of heart, divine mercy, the sacrament of penance, or the joy of forgiveness and grace. Only in this spiritual and ecclesial context are they properly understood and their saving effect activated.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 06:28:32 +0000
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