5 March/Wednesday/Ash Wednesday – ABC
Joel 2,12-18/ Psa 51,3-4.5-6.12-13.14.17/2Cor 5,20-6,2/Matt 6,1-6.16-18
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, lamentLet 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.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 50(51):3-6,12-14,17
Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
My offences truly I know them;
my sin is always before me
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sight I have done.
A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervour sustain me,
O Lord, open my lips
and my mouth shall declare your praise.
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.
Gospel Acclamation Psa 50:12,14
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
A pure heart create for me, O God,
and give me again the joy of your help.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
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.’
Reflection
Repentance is one of the principal acts we perform in Lent. The acknowledgement that
we have sinned against the Lord and our neighbour should lead us to repent and ask for
forgiveness. This journey toward repentance begins on Ash Wednesday when we receive
ashes on our forehead. This symbolic ritual reminds us that God created the human
person out of dust and has ordained that he/she should return to dust. As we know, dust
is of no value in human eyes but that is the substance of which we are formed. Just as
we give no regard to dust, we should realise our own nothingness and consequently
humble ourselves in life. The ritual of signing of ashes also reminds us that we shall return
to ashes one day. Ash Wednesday and the entire season of Lent is an occasion for us to
reflect on what will happen to the body that we care for and adorn so much. If the body
will return to dust from which it came, we need to seek what is eternal in our being and
give it value or importance.
The acknowledgment of our nothingness in the sight of God makes us conscious of the
need to be at peace with God who is all powerful. It is for this reason that the prophet Joel
calls on us to adopt a submissive attitude before God. The invitation to repent of our sins
recalls what God had already told the people of Israel about how they can find him when
they realise they have gone astray. The process of repentance is indicated clearly in the
reading with a spiritual or internal act as well as a visible part. The internal part is the
transformation of the heart. We turn to God with our whole heart when we resolve to
repent of our wrongdoings. The external part is composed of fasting, weeping and
mourning. All these acts show that we are sorry for the wrong we have done. They show
that we regret having distanced ourselves from God the source of life and love. Together
with the Psalmist, we cry out “Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness. In your
compassion blot out my offence”.
The Gospel Reading today speaks extensively about the way we should comport
ourselves in these external signs. We should not use them to attract attention to ourselves
in the hope that those who see us will know that we are in a process of repentance. These
gestures are not meant to attract attention but to purify us before God who alone forgives
and cleanses the repentant sinner. When the external signs become exhibitions of piety
for others to admire or appreciate, they lose their intended goal and divert attention from
the true process of repentance. Formal mourning is easy but it may not convey sentiments
of true repentance because it does not touch the heart of the person. True conversion to
a godly life is not easy because it demands an internal transformation. The prophet Joel helps us appreciate the attitude of God toward repentant humanity. He
does not look on unconcerned but shows a fatherly love toward every repentant soul. The
prophet reminds us that God is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and bounding in
steadfast love, and relents from punishing”. These characteristics of God should urge us
on in our desire to seek forgiveness. They assure us that God is open-hearted and will
not withhold his mercy from us. The prophet also makes it clear that our repentance does
not force God to act. We do not control God so we cannot force him to show us
forgiveness. We cannot command his forgiveness because he is free and sovereign so
we can only appeal to his mercy. Our repentance does not add anything to the greatness
of God. It rather places us in the right disposition in his presence and makes us
beneficiaries of our own acts of repentance.
As we begin our Lenten journey today with the imposition of ashes, we are reminded of
who we are and of what we are made. We should learn to walk in humility of heart and
go through a sincere process of soul searching. This exercise will help us realise how far
we are from God and the need to seek the path of life that leads back to him. We should
not wait for the end of the Lenten season to return to the Lord. We should make our
repentance a daily exercise so that we may be ready at all times to obtain forgiveness
from the all-loving God who comes to visit us and assure us of salvation.
