Ash Wednesday 2011

Here is the reflection that I am giving tomorrow at the nursing home. As with other reflections I've posted I am including the readings for the day afterwards if you are interested. I know that I still have to write a post about the rest of my break and starting back up here, I hope to do that soon.

Peace,
Adam

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March 9, 2011
Ash Wednesday

Here we go again… another Ash Wednesday means another Lent is starting. In just a few minutes you will all be marked with ashes on your forehead.
The readings for today all tell us how to go about our Lent, it is clear to us why the Church gives us these readings for today. The second line of the first reading says that we are to return to the Lord with all of our heart, this is the essence of all that we do during Lent: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These are the keys to Lent to help us return to the Lord with all of our heart.
But Lent isn’t just about showing that we are in Lent, and returning to the Lord for just these 40 days. It is about returning to him, turning away from our sin, for all of our life. We all stray, God welcomes us back, but hopes that we don’t stray again. However, when we do, He will indeed welcome us back again.
Go about your Lent in a way that is an example to others. The idea that Jesus talks about with not being flashy with our prayer, our almsgiving, and our fasting isn’t that others shouldn’t notice it, but rather that we shouldn’t flaunt it and make it seem like we deserve something for doing it.
God wants us to use this time to prepare for Easter, and for the rest of our lives. If you flaunt what you do, that is unsustainable, live your Lent in a way that you can continue in the future. Live your Lent so that your life can be an example for others.
Today we are being marked with ashes so that we can signify that we are in Lent. What about tomorrow or the next forty days, will people notice a difference in you? Will they see that you are improving in Lent? Find a way to make this Lent special and to move forward with it into the rest of your life.


Reading 1
Jl 2:12-18
Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion!
proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the people,
notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
gather the children
and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.


Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.


2 Cor 5:20-6:2
Reading 2
Brothers and sisters:
We are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
Working together, then,
we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:
In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.


Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms,
do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But 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.
“When you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”