Category: Uncategorized

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Isaiah: 58: 1-9

Thus says the Lord GOD:
Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,
lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;
Tell my people their wickedness,
and the house of Jacob their sins.
They seek me day after day,
and desire to know my ways,
Like a nation that has done what is just
and not abandoned the law of their God;
They ask me to declare what is due them,
pleased to gain access to God.
“”Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?””

Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,
and drive all your laborers.
Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting,
striking with wicked claw.
Would that today you might fast
so as to make your voice heard on high!
Is this the manner of fasting I wish,
of keeping a day of penance:
That a man bow his head like a reed
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!

The Word of the Lord.

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I remember as a child playing a game with my cousins. We’d jump into our grandfather’s pool and see how long we could hold our breath for: ten, twenty, thirty seconds.

Sometimes the winner would have to wait underwater for over a minute until second place was squirming, nearly blue in the face!

It was a pointless game, really. Boys being boys.

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But that feeling of repression – of holding our breath in until we nearly fainted – reminds me of a potential pitfall we face during Lent.

In addition to praying and giving alms, many of us give something up – caffeine, impatience, alcohol, social media, chocolate, etc.

The trick is doing so without becoming a grouch. Nobody wants to be around a “hangry,” irritable person. If fasting from caffeine only makes you tired and snappy, then something’s wrong.

As the prophet Isaiah warns the Israelites in our first reading: “Your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw. Would that you might fast so as to make your voice heard on high!”

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Yes, fasting can be painful at times. But it’s meant to direct our attention to our deepest hunger – our hunger for God – and towards the real hunger that many face without choice.

“Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless, clothe the naked when you see them,” Isaiah says. 

Do everything with a joyful, loving disposition. Then the Lord will hear us when we cry.

Otherwise, if we’re just holding our breath until Easter, then we might as well dive underwater until we’re blue in the face.

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Image credits: (1) Catholic Daily Reflections (2) Pinterest (3) Kindness Blog

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Gospel:

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms,
do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“When you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“When you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast,
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.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Ash Wednesday is a penitential day, reminding us of our need for conversion. As the prophet Joel urges us in our first reading, “Return to the LORD with your whole heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts, not your garments.”

Every time we turn on the news, we see the effect that sin has on our world. Whether it’s yet another video of a missile being fired into an apartment home, a school, or even a nursery in Ukraine.

Or the unfathomable earthquake in Syria and Turkey that claimed the lives of 46,000 people… followed by the aftershock on Monday morning.

As Saint Paul says, “all of creation is groaning in labor pains… waiting to be set free.”

Meaning, sin is mysteriously stitched into our world – even into the earth itself – causing heartache and wreaking havoc. 

But not only in faraway places. As one Russian novelist put it, “If only it were all so easy. But the dividing line between good and evil cuts through every human heart.”

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We gather here to pray, not only for the world around us, but also that we ourselves would be set free from sin, and inwardly changed this Lent.

In what ways does sin have a hold on me? Why do I need to repent?

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Acknowledging our sins – and striving eagerly to overcome them – is only part of the picture. 

While prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are necessary, the penitential nature of Ash Wednesday – and Lent at large – must be balanced with the anticipation of the joy of Easter Sunday. 

Remember, the first word that Jesus says to his disciples after the resurrection is, “Peace.” In Hebrew, “Shalom.”

Shalom means wholeness; harmony; stillness. It implies that something has been broken, and restored. 

In many ways, “shalom” describes what Lent, and our Christian journeys, is all about. It’s about acknowledging where we are broken, then allowing the Lord to slowly make us whole.

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When you step forward and a minister traces a cross of ash on your forehead, take seriously the words: “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” 

Humbly acknowledge those areas in your life where sin has its stronghold. But rejoice, knowing that God has come to save you. 

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Image credits: (1) Church of the Little Flower, Ash Wednesday (2) Faithward.org (3) Journey to Shalom

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Gospel: Mark 9: 30-37

Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee,
but he did not wish anyone to know about it. 
He was teaching his disciples and telling them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men 
and they will kill him,
and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.” 
But they did not understand the saying,
and they were afraid to question him.

They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house,
he began to ask them,
“What were you arguing about on the way?” 
But they remained silent.
For they had been discussing among themselves on the way
who was the greatest. 

Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,
“If anyone wishes to be first,   
he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” 
Taking a child, he placed it in their midst,   
and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me,
receives not me but the One who sent me.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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“What were you arguing about on the way?”

Mark uses this phrase, “on the way,” repeatedly to reference Jesus’ journey towards Jerusalem, giving it a double meaning.

On the surface, Mark is referring to the physical journey Jesus is making. But on a deeper level, he’s also referring to Christ’s spiritual journey towards Calvary.

As Jesus tells his disciples plainly in today’s Gospel, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him.” 

Jesus knows what will happen to him once he reaches Jerusalem. Yet, he never turns away from it.

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Imagine carrying the weight of that knowledge in your mind, knowing that once you cross a certain line, life as you know it will end. 

For example, if I said to you, if you cross the Pennsylvania line, then you’ll perish. How many of us would run away or drive in the opposite direction?

It’s self-preservation 101. Avoid all unnecessary danger.

But Jesus doesn’t. Day by day, step by step, he teaches in synagogues, heals the sick, and prepares his disciples as they journey “on the way” to Jerusalem. In that sense, he carries the weight of his cross long before the wooden beam is laid upon his shoulders.

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Tomorrow, we begin our own 40-day Lenten journeys, which will include fasting, almsgiving, and prayer.

At times our journey may feel like a steep climb; we may be tempted to give up, to give in, to turn around. But Jesus persevered, and in honor of him, we should, too. 

How can we make this Lent count? In what ways can we take the road less traveled? 

Persevering through these 40 days will make us stronger disciples, ready to welcome the Lord at Easter.

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Image credits: (1) Lent, Transforming Center (2) Jesus Triumphal Entry, Crosswalk (3) Feathers for your Journey