Reading 1 Jl 2:12-18
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 PS 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17
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.
Reading 2 2 Cor 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 Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
“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.”
A WORLD-WIDE REPENTANCE PROGRAM
"Now is the acceptable time!" –2 Corinthians 6:2
Many of us long for the renewal of the Catholic Church. We hunger for the members of the Church to be set on fire, to abandon themselves to Jesus. We long for Masses to be full of people who are filled with the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:4). The Lord's answer to your longing is: "Repent and believe in the gospel. Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return."
I am sitting in a 6:30 AM Mass with several hundred people who have come to receive ashes at the Ash Wednesday morning Mass. Normally there are seventy-five people at this Mass; today there are at least 250 people. The message of Ash Wednesday, that we humans are sinners who need to repent, reform our lives, pray, fast, and give alms is completely opposed to the message of the secular culture. The Catholic Church, in her wisdom and guided by the Holy Spirit, recognizes that people's hearts are restless until they rest in God (see Catechism, 30, St. Augustine). Knowing that something deep within the heart of men and women longs to be reconciled with God (see 2 Cor 5:20), the Church designed a world-wide program of repentance. It is called the season of Lent, and this program begins with Ash Wednesday. People truly do respond heartily to Ash Wednesday and Lent.
Therefore, with millions of believers around the world, "rend your hearts" (Jl 2:13) and enter into the season of Lent. Repent and humble yourself in the sight of the Lord (1 Pt 5:6).
| PRAYER: | "Have mercy on me, O God, in Your goodness; in the greatness of Your compassion wipe out my offense" (Ps 51:3). |
| PROMISE: | "The Lord was stirred with concern for His land and took pity on His people" –Jl 2:18 |
| PRAISE: | Samantha returned to Confession after a twenty-year absence. She now receives Jesus daily in the Eucharist. |
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