Ash Wednesday
As I read today’s readings, the word that comes to mind is humility. Yesterday we ate, drank, and were merry, but today we hear in our first reading, “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.” Where is your heart set this Lent? Is it set on things of this world? Or is it set with things that are above?
In our Gospel, Jesus tells us not to be like the hypocrites and blow a trumpet when we perform works because we want to be noticed but rather tells us, “When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret…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.” If we pray in public, we should do so with the utmost humility. As St. Paul says in our second reading today, “We are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us.” We have to show the world that humility always triumphs, but we must always have the mindset that we are not here on this earth to please ourselves or others but we are here to please God and to do His will.
Remember, this Ash Wednesday, to rejoice and be glad, for this is a day that the Lord has made, for He wants to draw you closer to Himself by your bona opera (good works), so that you may have Easter joy in your hearts throughout the whole year.
Reflection by Br. Maximilian Burkhart, OSB
Posted in Articles for Lent, Daily Reflections, Lenten Resources