Ash Wednesday is the beginning of our journey towards our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. While it is the start of this wonderful journey, we must stay focused on the end goal, and that is Easter. On this journey, we rend our hearts and seek a full conversion, a metanoia, so that we may be fully reconciled to the Lord, our God.
When we put ashes on our foreheads, it is an outward sign of a deep desire for the inward grace of receiving our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, deep into our heart. Now, in this desert journey of seeking Him in the silence, we are stirred to plant seeds into the fertile soil of our hearts, so that at the end of the journey, we will reap a harvest thirty, sixty, and hundred-fold, for the glory of God.
We fast, if we can, from food as a start, but then we may want to go deeper. We fast from anger, jealousy, greed, from all that would distract us from growing into the fullness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We give alms to minister to our sisters and brothers in need. Everything that we do throughout this journey is to seek first the kingdom of God.
Lord, help us as we turn away from sin, and to lead a life that is faithful to the Gospel, through Christ our Lord, amen.
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First reading
Joel 2:12-18
Let your hearts be broken, not your garments torn
‘Now, now – it is the Lord who speaks –
come back to me with all your heart,
fasting, weeping, mourning.’
Let your hearts be broken, not your garments torn,
turn to the Lord your God again,
for he is all tenderness and compassion,
slow to anger, rich in graciousness,
and ready to relent.
Who knows if he will not turn again, will not relent,
will not leave a blessing as he passes,
oblation and libation
for the Lord your God?
Sound the trumpet in Zion!
Order a fast,
proclaim a solemn assembly,
call the people together,
summon the community,
assemble the elders,
gather the children,
even the infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his bedroom
and the bride her alcove.
Between vestibule and altar let the priests,
the ministers of the Lord, lament.
Let them say,
‘Spare your people, Lord!
Do not make your heritage a thing of shame,
a byword for the nations.
Why should it be said among the nations,
“Where is their God?”’
Then the Lord, jealous on behalf of his land,
took pity on his people.
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Second reading
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2
Be reconciled to God
We are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God. For our sake God made the sinless one into sin, so that in him we might become the goodness of God. As his fellow workers, we beg you once again not to neglect the grace of God that you have received. For he says: At the favourable time, I have listened to you; on the day of salvation I came to your help. Well, now is the favourable time; this is the day of salvation.
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Gospel
Matthew 6:1-6,16-18
Your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be careful not to parade your good deeds before men to attract their notice; by doing this you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win men’s admiration. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing; your almsgiving must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
‘And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them; I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
‘When you fast do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they pull long faces to let men know they are fasting. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.’
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