20210217 THE LENTEN JOURNEY
17 February, 2021, Ash Wednesday
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, lament.
Let 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.
Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned.
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.
Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned.
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.
Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned.
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.
Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned.
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 | Ps50:12,14 |
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!
Or: | cf.Ps94:8 |
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Harden not your hearts today,
but listen to the voice of the Lord.
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.’
THE LENTEN JOURNEY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Joel 2:12-18; Ps 51:3-6,12-14,17; 2 Cor 5:20 – 6:2; Mt 6:1-6, 16-18]
Today the Church invites us all to undertake the Lenten journey as we prepare for the celebration of the Paschal Mystery, the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord. The period of Lent is a forty-day journey in imitation of Christ who spent forty days and nights in the desert before He was tempted by the Evil One. This period of forty days was to prepare our Lord for the mission ahead of Him where He would face the same temptations throughout His ministry, the temptation to doubt one’s identity before God, misusing one’s power to benefit oneself and the pursuit of power and glory. Of course, this tradition of preserving the number forty also reminds us of how the Hebrews spent forty years in the desert, a time of testing and training, before they entered the Promised Land. Moses himself spent forty days and nights at Mount Sinai before he received the Law from God. (cf Ex 34:28) Elijah walked forty days and forty nights to Mount Horeb to meet God, fasting along the way to renew his mission. (cf 1 Kg 19:8) These forty days are prescribed by the Church, beginning from Ash Wednesday.
This journey, however, is not just a personal journey but communitarian as well. This is what is implied in today’s first reading from the prophet Joel. “Now, now – it is the Lord who speaks – come back to me with all your heart, fasting, weeping, mourning.” It is an invitation to each one of us personally to turn back to the Lord with all our hearts, in sincerity and with remorse for our sins. But it is an invitation also to all of us as the People of God to accompany each other in this journey so that we do not undertake this arduous journey alone without the support of the Christian community. After all, we are all renewing our baptismal vows on Easter Sunday and so this penitential journey is taken together as Church. The prophet Joel said, “Sound a 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.” This is why we must begin the journey together on Ash Wednesday.
This journey begins with a procession. Traditionally, the Liturgy of Ash Wednesday in Rome begins with prayers and a penitential procession from one of the churches on Rome’s Aventine Hill to the Basilica of Santa Sabina on the same hill for the Holy Mass. This is to enact the penitential journey of the Hebrews in the desert and Elijah’s forty-day penitential journey to Mount Horeb. This is why Lent is a forty-day period of re-living Christ’s praying and fasting in the desert. However, Sundays of Lent are excluded because all Sundays are days we celebrate the Lord’s resurrection. There is no fasting on Sundays. Indeed, the Lord reminded us that we fast only when the bridegroom is taken away from us. (Lk 5:35) So with six weeks of Lent minus the Sundays but including Ash Wednesday to Saturday after Ash Wednesday, the number would be forty.
Upon arriving at the Basilica for the celebration of the Eucharist, another penitential rite takes place after the homily, namely, the imposition of ashes on the head by sprinkling some ashes over the heads or marked on the foreheads as a visible cross. Again, putting on ashes is but an external sign of interior repentance of the heart. In the ancient days, fasting was accompanied by putting on ashes and wearing sackcloth as a sign of repentance. However, it was not just an external sign done without a sincere desire for a change of heart. This is what the Prophet is reminding us, “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.” The Lord reminds us in the gospel not to fall into hypocrisy and ritualism when He spoke about giving alms, praying and fasting. Good as these external practices are, they must not be just for show or to impress others. Rather, as the Lord insists, no one should know except the “Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.”
Having spoken about the Spirit of the Lenten season, we must now go further and ask, what is the purpose of the Lenten journey? This journey will end with the celebration of the Easter triduum, the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord which is the heart of the mystery of our salvation. This is the time when the Church together with all the newly-baptized renew their baptismal commitments to the Lord, which is to die to one’s self and live a new life in Christ by sharing His love and His life with all. Hence, by undertaking this journey of prayer, fasting and doing works of charity, we enter into the heart of the mysteries of our faith, which is to undergo the mystery of the cross thereby having a foretaste of the joy of the resurrection of our Lord.
This journey begins with the call to repentance, which simply means a change of heart. But what does this change of heart entail? It is an invitation to go back to the essentials of life. This is why the season of Lent begins with the imposition of ashes to remind us of the frailty of this life. In the imposition of ashes, the first formula says, “”Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” (cf. Gn 3:19). These words taken from the Book of Genesis reminds us of our human condition, the transitory life on this earth. Therefore, we should not place our hopes and be attached to the earthly things of this world because they are all passing. Instead, we must realize that we are on a long pilgrimage on this earth. This is the valley of tears, when we cry from the time we come out of our mother’s womb till the day we depart from this world. Knowing how short our life is, we must therefore place all our hope in God alone. Only He can suffice us. Only in God can we find true rest, peace and joy. We live not for this life but for the fullness of life awaiting us when we share in Christ’s resurrection. The Lenten spiritual program seeks to help us to arrive at our destination.
Fasting, prayer and works of charity are to remind us that we should not be too attached to the things of this world. Fasting is to teach us discipline and detachment from our enslavement to the sensual desires of the human flesh. Unless we have control over our body, we cannot exercise control over our spiritual faculties, our mind and our heart. Prayer is to keep us close to God. It is in our union with God and our intimacy with Him that we find strength, consolation and peace of heart. This is why we need to pray in secret so that we will not be distracted by our temptation to display our piety. Of course, it does not mean that we do not have to set good examples to others or be exempted from communal prayer. But unless we pray deeply by ourselves, we will not be able to participate effectively in community prayer. Charity of course is the fruit of fasting and prayer. Only when we feel with our fellowmen in their need, in their hunger and pain, can our hearts be identified with them, leading us to do works of mercy. Indeed, Christian charity is not an extra welfare activity that we do but it is intrinsically part of our faith and our life as Christians. Truly, these Lenten exercises enable us to resist evil and sin.
Hence, the call to live the gospel life above everything else. This explains why the second formula that accompanies the action for the imposition of ashes says, “turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.” (Mk 1:15) The emphasis here is repentance from a sinful way of life and fidelity to the gospel way of life. It is not enough to turn away from evil and a selfish life, but positively it is a call to live the gospel way of life, which is “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 14:17) This path to spiritual renewal requires us to hear anew the Word of God, the gospel, so that we find new direction and inspiration to live our lives meaningfully and purposefully.
Indeed, the season of Lent is a season of grace. As St Paul urges us, “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.” The season of Lent is not just a time of penance and mortification but it is a time of liberation from the non-essentials of life. Let us make use of this special grace given to us for conversion and reconciliation. With our eyes fixed on our Lord and on His passion, let us begin this Lenten journey with hope.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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