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God's Word Is Alive Ash Wednesday

Written by: Alice Camille

ASH WEDNESDAY

Return to me




FIRST READING: Joel 2:12-18
Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart.
I WONDER at the idea of a national day of repentance. The prophet Joel envisions it so clearly: Drop what you are doing and return to God. Right now. Never mind if you just got married or just got ordained; gave birth to a baby or are contemplating your own death. Whatever you are doing, it is not as important as this. Turn your heart. Right now.

It reminds me of the saying from William James about the three things required to change your life: 1. Start immediately; 2. Do it flamboyantly; 3. No exceptions. In a sense, this is what the season of Lent is for, starting with the flamboyant sign of Ash Wednesday. Here we are, a nation of Catholics, advertising mortality to a world obsessed with youth and in denial of aging, sickness, and death. We spend the day with dirty faces, telling everyone at work and in the supermarket and in our neighborhoods that we know, for a fact, that this world is passing and so are we. Ash Wednesday is the feast of “no kidding.”

On this feast of no kidding, we have to be clear-eyed, honest, and sincere in our desire to reform our lives.

SECOND READING: 2 Corinthians 5:20—6:2
In Christ, we might become the very holiness of God.
THE URGENCY of this day is brought forward in Paul’s appeal: Now is the time! Now is salvation! We want to wait for a convenient time, perhaps when the cost of reconciliation with God has depreciated. Right now we have families to organize, businesses to run, problems to solve. This is not a good time for religion to intrude on us. Perhaps later on, when my child isn’t sick, when the money isn’t so tight . . . ?

What we often fail to realize is that what God is holding out to us with both hands is not bad news, another burden to carry, another expense to be paid out. Its grace! It’s forgiveness! It’s salvation! And we could use a little of those things right now. Joining hand and heart to God, which is what reconciliation means, is something that could help us while the child is still sick, while the money is tight. When we are drowning, it would be foolish to say, “I don’t have time to be saved right now; I’ve got my hands full just drowning!” In this hour, we most need to stretch out our hand.

GOSPEL: Matthew 6:1-6,16-18
“Your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you!"
IN GRAMMAR SCHOOL I had a friend named Melanie. Now, Melanie was religious. She was always slipping away from us during recess to go into the church and pray. She whipped through one novena after another the whole year ‘round, and excused herself even during television to keep her hourly dates with God. Melanie was a saint. I wanted to be like her.

Maybe Melanie will someday be up for canonization. But I have known other folks that I would campaign for too: Bernadette, a mother of nine children under the age of ten, who manages to keep every one of them clean, fed, and well loved. John, who cares for the elderly with respectful attention. My brother David, who lives with his diabetes and its rigors and limitations without fanfare. Teresa, who has lived a horrible life of deprivations and losses and still believes in tenderness. These hidden saints do not have a lot of pious stuff hanging out of their portfolios. They would not look like much to a Vatican commission seeking certifiable miracles. But the One who sees in secret sees them, and I bet they will make the communion of saints.

Questions for Reflection
    • What needs to change in your life? How can you begin, even in small ways, to make the changes?
    • What would you most like to be saved from in your present experience? What would you like to be saved for?
    • Who are the saints around you? What do they do to look like “the very holiness of God”?

Action Response
There is still time to settle on a Lenten discipline, if you have not already done so. Think of one way you feel moved to better your heart, and decide on one way you can begin to plant the seed of love.


These meditations reprinted with permission from God's Word Is Alive: Reflections on the Lectionary Readings for Sundays and Holydays by Alice Camille, For more information on the book or to order, visit the ACTA Publications website or call 800-397-2282.