Today is Ash Wednesday, the day in which we begin this penitential period in the life
of the Church in the liturgical year, the day when we bless the ashes and have them
imposed on our head and we hear the words, Remember, man, thou art dust, and unto dust
thou shalt return.
This is a penitential practice meant to remind us of our humble position in this world, is
that we are dust and we will return to dust.
This practice is rooted in sacred scripture.
We see in the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 25, God commands the Israelites to put ashes on
their heads as a sign of repentance.
And the same action is also followed by David and Judith and Job and also the Ninevites.
And even the early Christians, this was a sign of public penance for a public synagogue.
And so it's appropriate that since we are all sinners, that we all receive ashes and
that we wear them publicly as a little sign of public penance and a recognition that we
are sinners before God.
As I said, it's a sign of humility, man and all of his pride and all of our possessions.
We can so easily forget our position in this world and how brief our life on this earth
really is, that we are dust and to dust we shall return.
And in a certain sense, we're even lower than dust because we are dust that is capable of
offending God.
And in fact, each and every one of us has offended God with venial sin or with mortal sin.
It's also a day in a period of time to call upon God's mercy.
Because while we do remember that we are dust and that we are sinners, we call out
to God's mercy and his mercy, as we know, is infinite.
It's a time of conversion when we're meant to change our lives, a time of penance, practicing
traditionally the three forms of penance, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
The pride of place in prayer.
This is what we've come to learn.
We've gone into a state of
Sever-wwSness,
and we're judgmentally
beginning to
become
perfect.
Doesn't it?
Is it enough?
is it?
Is it a moment to specify the gift of God so that we're peopleuma.
This is what?
It is not.
There is no catch
of what it is inclusive of us.
But on the content�ن
we Memorandum Dei
Dei
So I invite everyone and tell all your friends, please, to come and join us for the Stations of the Cross
to remember our Lord's passion in death.
The Holy Rosary should be another prayer that we have recourse to during these 40 days,
especially praying the sorrowful mysteries, again, recalling our Lord's suffering in death.
And fasting, our fasting should be without ostentation.
We shouldn't fast in order to gain the praises of men, as our Lord says in the Gospel,
but to offer a sacrifice to God.
And almsgiving, that we should lay up our treasures in heaven, as the Gospel again says,
that we use the material goods that we have been given in this world
for doing good works, for the service of others,
for being generous in our works of charity,
offering to the charity and also to the church.
But in this time of penance, we ought to remember the greatest form of penance that God has given us,
and that is the sacrament of penance,
the sacrament of penance which confers grace on our souls and renews us interiorly.
Remember, that's the whole point of our prayer, fasting,
and our penance.
Our almsgiving is to convert us, to change us interiorly.
As we read in the first reading from the prophet Joel,
rend your hearts, not your garments.
So although our penances, our prayers, and fasts have a place in the spiritual life,
and particularly in this liturgical season,
it is always a means to arrive at interior conversion,
a change of heart,
to really change,
to turn away from the sins which we so often commit that offend God
and also offend our neighbor so often.
And of course, these sins are forgiven in the sacrament of penance,
and we are interiorly renewed and fortified by God's grace.
So let's make use of the sacrament of penance during this Lent.
So may we persevere for these 40 days in penance and humility,
and contrition for our sins,
trusting in God's mercy,
and changing our lives,
changing our hearts.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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