First Reading
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.
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.
Second Reading
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.
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.”
REFLECTION
SOURCE: One Bread One Body
TITLE: RE-LENT, RE-TURN AND REPENT
"...relenting in punishment. Perhaps He will again relent and leave behind Him a blessing." –Joel 2:13-14
Joel proclaims in today's first Ash Wednesday reading that God will relent on the punishment we have earned by the wages of our sins (Rm 6:23), if we return to Him with our whole heart (Jl 2:12). As Lent begins, the Church urges us to implore God to relent and have mercy on us (Ps 51:3), forgive our sins, and bring us back to Him.
God also implores us to "re-lent," that is, to enter year after year into the spirit of Lent with our whole heart. He tells us through the prophet Joel to "re-turn" to Him and "quit" the ways of the world, even those which might be good (Jl 2:16), for His sake. Through the Church, He calls us to "turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel." We don't just turn away from worldly things; we turn to the Lord God.
Re-Lenting and re-turning must lead to repenting. During Lent, focus on the Sacrament of Reconciliation. With true sorrow, repent of your sins, confess them to the Lord, and let Him take away the guilt of your sin (see Ps 32:5). Repent of turning to the lifestyle of the world and the preoccupations of the flesh. Return to Him (Jl 2:13). Abandon yourself completely into this season of returning, repenting, and relenting. The Lord says: "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" (Jl 2:12-13).
This year, don't simply go through the exercises and motions of Lent. Re-lent, repent, and re-turn to the Lord.
PRAYER: Jesus, reconcile me to Your Father (2 Cor 5:20).
PROMISE: "Now is the acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation!" –2 Cor 6:2
PRAISE: During Lent, Bill, a vice-president in a large corporation, skips his daily lunch hour to go to noon Mass.
...may the good Lord bless His holy word in our hearts...
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