WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2024
ASH WEDNESDAY OF THE BEGINNING OF LENT YEAR B
Joel 2:12-18
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2
Matthew 6:1-6.16-18
A PERIOD OF CLEANSING OF OUR HEART AND RAISING OF OUR MINDS AND LIVES TO GOD
We begin the season of Lent. Naturally, it is a period of personal reflection and preparation to celebrate the great paschal mystery of the Easter resurrection. It is a call of God and the church and intended to be a period of internal washing, cleansing and purifying of our hearts and desires and allowing the grace of God to flourish in us for the sole aim of the encounter at the great feast of the Resurrection of Christ at Easter.
The Church therefore calls us to undergo this period in total mortification by fasting, praying and giving alms. These are the pillars on which the season of lent hangs. Because they help us to acknowledge who we are really and what we are made of. Fasting is a form of mortification, conscious denial of oneself of the basic necessities of life in order to discipline the body, fight against the excessive desires of the heart, cut down on the bodily appetites that sometime affects the desires of the soul. We are called to remind ourselves of the vanity of life, the value of the soul and to reset ourselves towards the journey for eternal life.
In prayer, we seek the face of our God, relying upon the powers of his love, attending to the voice of our creator, listening to his words of admonition and yearning for the glory of his name. We intensify our prayers, and attend listening to the voice of our God.
In almsgiving, we take up the virtues of helping others, practicing the act of love which is associated with the Lord, the only solution to peaceful living, happy life and union with God. We recognize the sufferings of others, join them to feel their pains and help alleviate their problems. We carry the burdens of others as God carries our burdens too in this journey of life.
The ashes we impose on ourselves today is a great symbol of our readiness to debase ourselves, to recognize our nothingness and sinfulness and the great desire in our heart to take up our lives and humble ourselves with the aim of doing God’s will, lowering our ego, and consciously attending to ourselves to cleanse our lives and be again in friendship with our God.
Our Lenten season begins today and runs for the next forty days characterized by cleansing, mortification and spiritual purging of ourselves of the vice of sins in order to rise from our sinfulness, be reconciled with God and neighbours and be ready to celebrate the great mystery of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ with the sole aim of living the life of a resurrected Christian.
Heavenly Father, as we begin the discipline and journey of lent, stand by us to purify and wash clean our hearts and desires by removing from us, the vices of sins, restoring us to the sanctity and holiness of godly state and granting us peace of mind, generosity of heart and union with you through Christ our Lord.
Fr Norbert Uchuno
