“Repent and believe in the Gospel.” This
is what we hear proclaimed to us in a few short moments when we receive a
smudge of ashes on our foreheads. And
that is what Jesus asks of us today, to repent and to believe in his
Gospel. Today
we start the holy season of Lent, a time of intense spiritual renewal for us,
the faithful, as we prepare to celebrate the annual commemoration of the
Paschal mystery of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. Lent
is also a very special time for the catechumens and candidates in our RCIA
program, as they enter their final weeks of preparation for baptism or
full-communion with us in our Catholic faith.
Ashes
were used in Old Testament times to symbolize mourning, mortality, and penance. People like Job in the Old Testament wore sackcloth and ashes to proclaim their desire to repent. But
the ashes are not just an outward sign – they symbolize what is going on in the
inside. As
Joel tells us, we are to return to God with our whole hearts. We
are to return to him with prayers and weeping and fasting. But
we are not just to tear apart our outer garments. We are to truly have a change and repentance
of heart.
Every
year on Ash Wednesday, we priests are truly edified as we see the faithful come so
sincerely and devoutly to church today as we start this penitential season. Today, you will all receive a black rubber wristband. The
color black of the wristband will remind us of the ashes we receive today. The
black wristband not only represent the contrition we feel in our hearts
for our sins and our desire to repent, but will also be a reminder for us that God is gracious and merciful to those
who call on Him with repentant hearts. We will turn in our
Lenten promise cards today. Inscribed on our
wristbands is the word SACRIFICIUM – the Latin word meaning SACRIFICE. These wristbands
will remind us and the world of the promises we are committing to during this
Lenten season. And indeed, it will
take commitment and sacrifice and steadfastness to stay committed to our Lenten
promises when we are tempted to break them or leave them behind.
Pope Francis has said that Lent is to be a time
that shakes us up out of our sleep and out of our complacency. And Pope
Benedict XVI sees Lent as a holy time that helps us live out the love of Christ
in an ever more radical way in our daily lives. Let us feel God calling out to us today in a
very special, profound way, to “repent and believe in the Gospel.”
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