20240214 GRACE OF LENT: NOW IS THE FAVOURABLE TIME
14 February 2024, 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.’
GRACE OF LENT: NOW IS THE FAVOURABLE TIME
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 we begin the season of Lent. Lent coincides with Spring, which is the beginning of new life. The Church wants to prepare us for the celebration of New Life in Christ at His resurrection on Easter. But to prepare ourselves for the greatest Christian celebration of the year – the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord – we must rid ourselves of the old life and seek to purify ourselves so that we can celebrate the new life in Christ.
St Paul wrote, “Well, now is the favourable time; this is the day of salvation.” Why is it the most favourable time? This is the time when the entire Church journeys together in the path to conversion of hearts and minds. We do not take this arduous penitential journey alone, because we may not have the perseverance to see us through, and give up half-way. But with the Church behind us, walking with us, we will be able to respond more whole heartedly to the call for repentance and conversion. Indeed, from the Pope to the last member of the Church, all of us are called to repentance. No one is exempted. We are called to enter into ourselves and examine our hearts and minds. We are given this special grace of God to walk through this journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, from a land of slavery to a land of freedom. St Paul wrote, “As his fellow workers, we beg you once again not to neglect the grace of God that you have received.”
Where are the graces that we have received for this Lenten journey? Firstly, in the liturgy. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, reminding us of the essentials in life. On this first day of Lent, ashes are put on our foreheads with the words, “Repent and believe in the gospel” or “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Indeed, in the blessing of the Ashes, the celebrant calls us to mind that conversion begins with the recognition that we are but ashes and shall return to dust. It is an important reminder for us who are busy with life, working and making money, hurrying to do one thing after another, drifting through life each day, sometimes without any direction or purpose. We forget that our life is short and that we are accountable to God at the end of it. So the season of Lent begins by asking us to reflect on what we are doing, and the purpose of our life on earth, so that we do not live in regret or live an aimless and futile life.
Secondly, the Church accompanies us in the first half of Lent reflecting on our life and in the areas of repentance that are needed. This is what we read 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.” Let your hearts be broken not your garments torn, turn to the Lord your God again, for he is all tenderness and compassion.” This call to soften our hearts and listen to the call for repentance is the first step. Unless, we begin to reflect on our lives, and recognize our failures in all humility and consciousness, there can be no conversion of heart. This explains why Joel asks us to have a broken heart, one that comes to realize the pain, the hurts, the injustices that we have done towards our neighbours, and most of all towards God who loves us.
With the psalmist, we must pray for the grace of a contrite heart. “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.” Recognition of sin is the first step towards repentance.
Thirdly, the Church gives us the means by which we can grow in holiness and grace through the three spiritual exercises of almsgiving, prayer and fasting. Ultimately, faith must be transformed into charity, without which it is empty and shallow. Almsgiving is the expression of one who is deeply in love with God. We truly know God when we are able to see His face in our neighbours because we share the heart of God. To help us to see the face of God in our neighbours, we must embark on a serious life of silent contemplation, adoration, reflection and also communal worship with our brothers and sisters. Without seeking for God and for His grace, we will not have the capacity to do it. Finally, fasting is the hinge that brings about almsgiving and prayer because fasting helps us to identify with the hunger of our fellowmen, and helps us to remember our hunger for God. For this reason, fasting is but a means for us to strengthen our love for God and for our neighbours. It is more than a show of discipline or penance for our sins. God does not desire us to make our lives miserable, but sometimes we need to feel hunger, so that we will can remember our need for God and the needs of our fellowmen.
Fourthly, the graces that we receive through the spiritual exercises should make us more attuned to God and to ourselves. This calls for an examination of our motives in what we do. Very often, we can be doing good works, but our motives are not that noble. In the gospel, the Lord invites us to not just do good, lest some of us think that we are already very good Catholics, but to purify the motives in what we do. At the end of the day, it is not just the action alone, but the sincerity and purity of our actions that matter. The essential spiritual exercises for anyone to grow in holiness, namely, almsgiving, prayers and fasting, must be done with the right motives, not to attract glory for ourselves, but to bring glory to God. Whilst these three spiritual exercises are meant to help us to go out of ourselves by focusing on our neighbours and on God, there is always the temptation to use them as external pious practices to gain public attention.
Fifthly, when the first stage of repentance and conversion has begun, the Church, during the second part of Lent, invites us to focus on the person of our Lord, rather than on the spiritual exercises, because they are means, and not the ends in themselves. There is a real danger that in carrying out the spiritual exercises, we end up becoming more self-righteous, priding ourselves that we have done good works, spent time in prayer and even chalked two or three days of fasting a week. Salvation does not come through good works, but in Christ and through faith in Him. It is for the love of Christ that we do good works, and not because good works can save us.
Hence, let us not forget that the centrality and goal of Lent is to lead us into the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord. We are called to reflect on who Jesus is to us by pondering His words and His works. The gospel of John, which we will read in the second half of Lent, focuses on the identity and the person of Jesus. Who is He? This is the ultimate question that we need to answer. If Jesus is our God and Saviour, we can be certain that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Otherwise, Jesus is reduced to just a good teacher, and His words will not be taken seriously. Many Catholics only confess on their lips that Jesus is their Lord and Saviour, but they do not accept His teachings wholeheartedly. They pick and choose what they like, dilute the words of Jesus that they do not like, and even twist the message of the Gospel to suit their personal preferences.
We hope that at the end of our Lenten journey, we will rediscover that Jesus is truly our Lord and Saviour, so that on Easter Sunday, we can, together with our newly baptized, confirm our faith in Christ and renew our baptismal vows. The death of our Lord saved us from our sins because by His death, He invites us to die to our sins that killed Him. By His resurrection, He brought us new life by giving us a sure hope that our life does not end in death. Consequently, even if we return to dust, we will rise again and share in the fulness of life with Him. This is the ultimate goal of our pilgrimage on this earth – to be with God and with Jesus.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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