A Lenten Reflection on Ash Wednesday
Readings for Ash Wednesday:
Joel 2:12-18; 2 Corinthians 5:20—6:2; Matthew 6:1-6,16-18
What is Lent?
It is a 40-day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that is a preparation for Easter.
What is Easter?
It is the commemoration and celebration of what God did for us through Jesus Christ.
What did Jesus do?
He lived among us and gave us a vision of a full life (not just a religion). He suffered and died on a cross, not as a sign of failure, but as a testimony of the greatest love a person can show for a friend—to die for him. Through that death Jesus entered a new life, and he opened the door for us to share with him the same fullness of life, a life that can begin here and now and go on without end.
Why six weeks?
Six weeks is about 40 days, and Jesus spent 40 days in the desert preparing for his work and mission.
How are we to prepare for Easter?
The Gospel suggests three areas: prayer, fasting and giving alms. These practices are common to all major religions: Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity.
In practice, how are we to do these things?
Each person needs to make his or her own choices.
Prayer can include:
- Taking part in the Eucharist every morning
- Setting aside a short period for meditation or reflection
- Doing some Bible reading and study (using Living Space)
- On the web, visiting a prayer website such as Sacred Space
Fasting can involve:
- Traditionally, people have given up some nice thing they like but don’t really need, like sweets, chocolate or dessert. Fasting can also involve reducing over-indulgence in things that take our time and attention away from God, family or other relationships (e.g. sports, video games, television, cell phones).
- Many people also choose to cut down on alcohol or nicotine or any other addictive substance, perhaps as part of a permanent giving up. It can help to motivate if we remember these things are not very good for us anyway.
Almsgiving can:
- Be linked to fasting. For example, money saved from giving up superfluities may be redirected to helping those who do not have necessities for life.
- Help us become more aware of the needs of others.
- Help us to realise that real fulfilment comes in making my contribution to building a more just society for all.
What else is important about Lent?
Lent is a time to become more aware of what life is about and how I want to use my life, my gifts, my experiences and my education. Let us strive to use this Lenten season in a really constructive and productive way.
Ash Wednesday – Gospel
Commentary on Matthew 6:1-6,16-18
The three central acts for the devout Jew were prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The only fast actually laid down in the Mosaic law was that of the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:31), but in later Judaism, the practice of regular fasting was common. The Gospel tells us that John the Baptist used to fast, and he was contrasted with Jesus who ate with sinners (which does not mean that Jesus did not fast). The Pharisees also fasted regularly.
For Christians, too, these acts are all proper to the Lenten season. And all three can profitably be incorporated in some way into our lives during these six weeks.
Let us give some more time specifically to prayer, and not just saying prayers each day. We might think of learning something about ways of praying—the practice of Christian meditation as taught by John Main, Centering Prayer, Lectio Divina (based on reading of Scripture) or some form of Ignatian Prayer. There are many books available to learn about these methods which are basically very simple. They can also be found on the Internet. John Main recommends 20-30 minutes in meditation twice a day as ideal. That may seem a lot, but many of us, even in a busy day, do not have a problem with spending an hour or more on a TV programme. For some it may be possible to pray in a small group together with shared prayer.
There are now, in most places, only two official fast days in the whole of Lent. Some people would never think of fasting, although they may be on a diet which is even more stringent than what the Church asks. Fasting can consist of doing without something we do not really need, even if we are over the age for fasting: alcohol, nicotine, snacks and titbits. Sometimes it is harder to let go of these things than to eat fish—especially if you like fish!
And do not let us forget to share something of what we have with those who are in need. Why not take the money that would be spent on that fancy meal you decided to forego, and give it to those who do not know where their next meal is coming from? If you have given up movies for Lent, or any other indulgence, again let the money saved be diverted to the really needy.
The Gospel today emphasises the importance of doing all these things quietly and without ostentation. No one should even know we are praying more, sharing more, or doing without things. Once we draw attention to ourselves doing these things, they have lost their real purpose, which is to bring us closer to God and his ways.
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Ash Wednesday – Readings
Commentary on Joel 2:12-18; 2 Corinthians 5:20—6:2
On Ash Wednesday, we reflect that the readings for Lent are taken from a wide variety of texts in both the Old and New Testaments. They can be seen as a preparation for the honouring of the Lord’s Passion and the celebration of his Resurrection. One can profitably take one or both readings on each day of Lent for prayerful reflection in order to make a personal preparation for the observation of Holy Week and Easter.
Today, the First Reading is from the prophet Joel, of whom very little is known. His name is shared with about a dozen other Old Testament figures. Evidence would seem to indicate that he lived in Judah during the Persian period of Jewish history (539-331 BC). The majority of historical references in his book, in which there is no mention of Assyria or Babylonia, would point to a period between 400 and 350 BC.
Joel is regarded as a ‘cultic’ prophet, that is, he exercised his ministry within the life of the Temple. Today’s reading comes from the earlier part of the book, in which Joel sees a plague of locusts that ravaged the country as a sign of God’s judgement on his people.
Fasting, weeping, mourning
The passage today is an eloquent and beautiful call to repentance. Fasting was required once a year on the Day of Atonement, but also in times of calamity (as with the plague of locusts already mentioned). It was a sign of penitence and submission to God by a sinful people.
Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Why? Because Yahweh:
…is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love,
and relenting from punishment.
This contrasts with the prophet Jonah, who early on in his mission complained that God was too easy on sinners, especially gentile sinners.
The passage is a solemn call to repentance. Repentance here is not just sorrow for the past, but a call to a complete change of life (in Greek, metanoia). The emphasis is on inner change, not outward observance. Says the prophet:
…rend your hearts and not your clothing.
For us, too, Lent is better observed by an inner change in our way of life, rather than merely the external ‘giving up’ of minor pleasures. We seek a change that will continue well beyond Lent and become a consistent pattern of our living. It is certainly not a time for fear. Our God is a loving God:
…he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love,
and relenting from punishment.
This is a chorus that echoes throughout the Old Testament, telling us that we can approach God with the greatest of confidence.
But repentance in the Scriptures is not just feeling bad about the past and looking for forgiveness. It is about choosing to adopt a complete change of thinking—a new way of seeing our lives and moving forward on a different track. As mentioned, this metanoia involves a radical change in the way we see our life and the direction in which it ought to go.
How to benefit from the goodness of the Lord?
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly; gather the people.
Consecrate the congregation;
assemble the aged;
gather the children,
even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride her canopy…
Let the priests,
the ministers of the Lord, weep.
Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and do not make your heritage a mockery,
a byword among the nations”.
All are called together for a common show of repentance: people from their homes, newlyweds from their bedchambers, even the priests offering sacrifice in the Temple. It is a time for everyone to leave their sinful ways—from priests to children—and to repent with deepest sorrow. Through this repentance, God is reminded that they are his people.
Why should it be said among the nations?
In difficult times, those on the outside are driven to ask: “Where is their God?” This is the question that people often ask when disasters strike—Where was God when his people died by the millions in the Nazi concentration camps? Where was God when man-made evil struck and killed so many, or when natural disasters occurred, or when a close relative or the innocent victim of a driving accident died? Where was God when a young person, full of life, unexpectedly died?
Then the Lord became jealous for his land
and had pity on his people.
In Joel’s case, the Lord did reply. The prayer is answered; the plague ceases. Yahweh, jealous of his own people, takes pity on them. Let us pray that this Lenten season will help us to see the world, and to see life, as God sees it. The wonderful Scripture readings of Lent will help us to do this.
Now is an acceptable time
The Second Reading is a powerful appeal from Paul to the Christians of Corinth, which fits in perfectly with the beginning of the Lenten season. First, he reminds us that we are “ambassadors for Christ”. It is through us, through our words and actions, that God is seen by the rest of the world. That is a tremendous responsibility and something to reflect on seriously, especially during this Lenten season.
Second, Paul points out that, for our sakes, God made Jesus, who was altogether without sin, “to be sin”. What Paul means is that Jesus, the altogether sinless One, willingly endured the effects of sin and evil, especially through his suffering and death on the Cross. His purpose in doing so was:
…so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
In other words, we too are called to walk the same Way that Jesus did, to be ready to suffer and die as he did. In this, more than by any other thing we might say or do, we truly become ambassadors for Jesus Christ. So Paul begs the Corinthians (and us) that this tremendous act of God’s love enacted through his Son, Jesus, not be in vain.
Lent is a time for us to contemplate deeply the meaning of Jesus’ life, suffering and death for each one of us, and to reflect what changes it calls for in the way we live our lives of discipleship now.
…now is the acceptable time; look, now is the day of salvation!
For the Christian, the time of conversion and change is always now, and never more so than during the great season of Lent.
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