Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday begins our forty-day season of Lent that leads to Easter. On Ash Wednesday, we come together as the people of God to remind ourselves that we don’t always follow God’s ways and need to ask God for His mercy and forgiveness. Like God’s people in the time of the prophets, we wear ashes to show that we want to turn away from whatever keeps us from God, and to have a change of heart, so that we can live in right relationship with God and each other.

For Catholics, Ash Wednesday is also a day of fasting and abstaining from meat. Fasting reminds us that food alone cannot make us happy. We must also be fed with prayer, with God’s Word and by meeting Jesus in the Sacraments, especially Reconciliation and Eucharist. The small sacrifices we make during Lent makes room in our hearts to welcome the risen Christ at Easter.

This Lent let us look at things a little differently.  Instead of “What will I give up?”  Consider “What does God want to give you?”  Before you think about what you are going to give up think about what God might be inviting you to.  God wants us to be happy, caring and compassionate toward ourselves and others.  We are meant to be free and not burdened down.

Let us embrace this Lent with a spirit of hope and be ready for big surprises!

One Step at a Time

There is a story of a coach who challenged his runners to run in a marathon.  As they trained each day they were encouraged to push themselves just a little bit further each day.  Soon several dropped out so that there were six runners and their coach left to run the marathon.  After six months of training the day for their marathon arrived.  All completed the thirteen mile marathon with their best times ever.  Recounting their success they attributed it to the fact that their coach had encouraged them to run further then they had the day before.

Our Scriptures today challenge us to go a step further.  Each of our readings call us to look deep within.  For the past two Sundays we have listened to the Sermon on the Mount that calls us to look long and hard at how we are living our lives.  As we pray this day let us all look deep into our hearts and see where we can go one step further, where we can grow closer to our God.  We are called to look beneath the surface and examine our hearts how we are living our lives.  May we always make the choice to choose life and make more room for God in our lives – moving closer to God one step more each day.

Salt and Light

Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.  You are the light of the world.  A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”  (Mt. 5: 13 - 16)

Today’s Gospel from the Sermon on the Mount is one of my favorites.  In this story Jesus states clearly what we are called to do in life.  As luck would have it I attended two liturgies today one with our Ursuline sisters and the other at a local parish where our Honor’s Choir was signing.  The homilies the priest shared today were inspiring. 

The first one shared the story of a young boy who was living in a residential treatment facility in the 1960’s.  Each week the children would earn an “allowance” where they could use the money to buy some candy in the facilities store.  Week after week the young boy never received his “allowance” because of his behavior.  After several weeks he finally was going to receive it and was excited throughout the day.  Finally the moment arrived for him to go purchase his two Hershey candy bars.  After his purchase he went outside and noticed a boy who had just arrived.  He went over to the other boy and handed him his two prized Hershey bars.  When asked why he did this he simply responded, “Because he needed them more than I did.”  What an incredible statement and gift of sharing.

The second story was one about a young man who had lived in a homeless shelter and after he got back on his feet was hired to help out.  He did so with great enthusiasm.  His job was to clean the sidewalk outside the shelter.  While doing his job he always greeted those who passed him by.  Year after year he did his job well with pride and joy.  Ultimately he succumbed to AIDS and his funeral gathering scattered onto the street.  He died serving others and never felt sorry for himself.  The priest ended the homily with the statement, “He was Christ to all who he encountered.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the same could be said of us?”  Another profound statement.

As I reflected this afternoon on these homilies I realized that today was a true gift for me.  As I prayed I could feel the impact of the words I had heard earlier.  May we always remember to be Christ for one another.