Ash Wednesday

 

The Lenten Season: The Lectionary readings for Lent fall into two basic themes broken into the first half of Lent and the second. The first half, beginning today and running through the Saturday of the third week of Lent, focuses on the model of discipleship. As we are confronted time and again with the demands of our call to be Christ’s disciples, we come to understand that, in spite of our best efforts, our perfect response to that call will always be out of our reach.
 
In the second half of Lent the Lectionary shows us Jesus the Christ in the Gospel of St. John. We review his ministry, not so much as a synopsis, but rather to come to a closer understanding of the salvation he alone provides.
 
Taken together, the first half of Lent is ethical and the second is Christological. The first half empties us the second fills us up. At the end lies the great gift of Easter.

Christ in the Wilderness”
by Ivan Kramskoy,1872

Readings for Ash Wednesday [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Joel 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.
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Commentary on Jl 2:12-18
 
The land has suffered a great plague of locusts, and Joel calls the people of Israel to repentance. He calls all the faithful to return to the Lord and have faith in him because they were in despair, thinking the locusts were a punishment from God. Joel asks the faithful for an interior conversion, not just outward signs or ritual worship (“Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God.”).
 
“This verse [v.17] (which the liturgy of the Church uses as a call to penance on Ash Wednesday) acts as a conclusion to the first part of the book: a change of heart, backed up by sincere acts of penance, can cause God to stay his hand and spare his people any more affliction. The words that open the second part of the book (v. 18) tell us of the Lord's response; from then on, hope is on the horizon: ‘God does not let himself be outdone in generosity. Be sure that he grants faithfulness to those who give themselves to him’ (St Josemaria Escrivá, ‘The Forge’, 623).” [4]
 
CCC: Jl 2:12-13 1430
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17
 
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.
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Commentary on Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17
 
Psalm 51 provides a call to repentance. “A lament, the most famous of the seven Penitential Psalms, prays for the removal of the personal and social disorders that sin has brought.” [5] We acknowledge our sinfulness and vow to return to the grace of God.
 
CCC: Ps 51:6 431, 1850; Ps 51:12 298, 431
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Reading II: 2 Corinthians 5:20—6:2
 
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.
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Commentary on 2 Cor 5:20—6:2
 
St. Paul calls the Corinthians to reconciliation with God. He reminds them that through reconciliation, grace is received, and through grace, God pours out salvation. The Apostle also reminds the people why God came: as a sacrifice of atonement for sins (“For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin“). His urgent call tells his audience that now (not later) is the time for this to occur. “In an acceptable time: Paul cites the Septuagint text of Isaiah 49:8; the Hebrew reads "in a time of favor"; it is parallel to "on the day of salvation." Now: God is bestowing favor and salvation at this very moment, as Paul is addressing his letter to them.” [6]
 
CCC: 2 Cor 5:20 859, 1424, 1442; 2 Cor 5:21 602; 2 Cor 6:2 1041
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Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
 
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.”
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Commentary on Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
 
The Lord continues the Sermon on the Mount. In this selection, the Lord specifically addresses the pious acts of charity, prayer, and fasting, contrasting each with the spurious or pandering acts of the scribes and Pharisees. He tells his audience that when they do these things, do them for God to see, not other people. They are to do what is right for God’s glory, not their own, not so that others will place them in high esteem because of their piety or generosity. In all three instances, almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, the same instruction is given. We are to give generously but in private, we are to pray fervently but alone, and we are to fast with purpose but hide our discomfort. (Omitted from this reading, Matthew 6; 7-15, is Jesus giving the disciples the Lord’s Prayer.) In all of these instances, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, the Lord is showing us where he can be found and where he is not.
 
“This striking coincidence of opposites instructs us by what it omits, the oblique reference to the place where God is not. God is not to be found in the street-corners where trumpets are blown, between hands that rub against one another in greedy self-satisfaction or on the contorted face of the fasting man who wants to be admired. God is not to be found in hypocrisy, in relationships based on mutual self-promotion, in a religious devotion whose practitioner steals for himself the glory due to God alone.” [7]
 
CCC: Mt 6:1-18 1434; Mt 6:1-6 1430, 1969; Mt 6:2-4 1753, 2447; Mt 6:2 1063; Mt 6:5 1063; Mt 6:6 1693, 2608, 2655, 2691; Mt 6:14-16 2792; Mt 6:16-18 1430; Mt 6:16 1063; Mt 6:18 575
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Reflection:
 
We start our own Lenten journey with an apologetic statement. In the view of many Christian denominations, Catholics are said to be good at guilt.  In their eyes our celebration of Ash Wednesday and even Lent exemplifies our faith.  Those who have not taken a deeper look do not realize what truly happens each year.  Ironically, those involved in modern manufacturing techniques would see very clearly what goes on.  That is because the goal of the modern manufacturing facility is to produce quality parts with no defects.  To get to that perfect system, there must be what is commonly called “continuous improvement.”
 
We do not embrace guilt over our failures, but we do not hide it from ourselves either.  We do not believe that once we have accepted Christ and named him our Savior we can go on as we please, having been saved with no more effort than to say “I believe.” 
 
The Church has set up for us a cycle of “continuous improvement.”  Each year during our Lenten season we hear those words: “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel,” as we accept the ritual ashes that have marked the repentant faithful since ancient times.  Each year we accept the penitent role, and review in detail how we have succeeded in God’s call to holiness and how we have failed.  The measure with which we measure ourselves is Christ the Savior, zero defects.
 
We believe that no one has achieved this state of perfection before or since the Lord took on his humanity and walked among us.  We are not, however, dissuaded from trying to get as close to our model as possible.  During our Lenten season we first hold ourselves up to the intense scrutiny that is only possible for one who understands the love Christ has for us and for all his creation.  We see the flaws clearly.  The deeper we are drawn into our relationship with the Lord, the more clearly those stains appear.  It is like stain on a fabric: the closer to pure white a fabric becomes in color, the more clearly even the smallest stains can be seen.  In Lent we strive for the snowy white of our baptismal garment.
 
As we see those flaws, we attempt to discover ways to change what we do, and the ways we behave, to conform ourselves more closely to our Lord.  We empty ourselves like a garage during spring cleaning, so we can clean out the junk and put only the good things back.  The first half our Lenten season is exactly that – emptying out all of what has accumulated in the past year or years.  The second half is dedicated to filling ourselves with the love of Christ, so that when Easter arrives, we rejoice, converted once more and ready once more to try for that perfect life in Christ.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture used is “Christ in the Wilderness” by Ivan Kramskoy,1872.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] The Navarre Bible: “Minor Prophets”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, pp. 97-98
[5] See NAB footnote on Psalm 51.
[6] See NAB footnote on 2 Corinthians 6:2.
[7] Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume I. Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA, © 1996 p. 270.