ASH WEDNESDAY & LENT:
Scripture: “And the Lord said to him: Pass through the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and mark on the foreheads of those who grieve andlament over all the abominations practiced within it.” – Ezekiel 9:4
Catechism of the Catholic Church: “The liturgical season of forty days which begins with Ash Wednesday and ends with the celebration of the Paschal Mystery (Easter Triduum). Lent is the primary penitential season in
the Church’s liturgical year, reflecting the forty days Jesus spent in the desert in fasting and prayer.” – CCC page 886
Brothers and sisters, we will begin our Lenten Season this coming Wednesday. As we know, Lent is a time for us to reflect on our lives – and our spiritual life as well. And, how we can repair and repent of those things that may be keeping us from a full and loving relationship with God, and each other.
Like many of you I have already begun thinking of what I give up for Lent. I have tried in the past giving up favorite foods; i.e. chocolate fudge (no peanut butter), Lay’s Kettle Cooked Bar-b-que Potato Chips, and orange sherbert. However, I never make it the full 40 days, so I quit trying. After a little soul-searching, I realized that those aren’t the most important things to me to give up. It is my time – my “Me Time.” Therefore, I will
take part of my ‘me time’ to spend a little more time in prayer, a little more time reading scripture, and a little more time with Jesus – loving and caring for others.
And I admit that it is always so nice to see our churches full of people, ready to receive ashes. And our churches are just as full on Palm Sunday as well. I had shared this joy with someone a few years back, and they said – which I hope they were kidding – that it’s because the people feel that they are getting something.
I asked what he meant by that and he said that the people are able to walk out of church holding something they have received. I was shocked by that answer. Brothers and sisters, may we here at Divine Mercy always remember and be aware that we receive something more powerful, something more precious than ashes or a piece of palm that we could ever imagine: Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. We receive this unfathomable gift every time we come to mass!
Maybe we can use some of our ‘me time’ throughout the week to spend time with the Lord in church and the Eucharist. And to help facilitate our understanding on just how powerful and precious Jesus is within the Eucharist and throughout our lives; what we gain – what we walk away with after mass.
To reiterate and make it even more clear – receiving Jesus in the Eucharist is more powerful than ashes on the foreheads of the faithful. The Eucharist is more powerful than having a piece of palm in our homes. This, brothers and sisters, is the reason that the Catholic Church proclaims that the Eucharist is the Source and Summit of our faith. Let us also remember that we practice our faith when in church; we are to live our faith
when we walk out the church door.
HAPPY LENTEN SEASON!
“There’s nothing so great, as the Eucharist. If you were to put all the good actions in the world against a Communion well made, it would be like a
grain of dust against a mountain. -St. John Vianney
