Ash Wednesday Homily

Today we receive a smudge of ash upon our foreheads as we are told, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” This mark of ash is not a badge of honor, but a reminder that we are in need of a Savior. In our Gospel Jesus warned against “practicing our righteousness before others to be seen by them.” This mark of ash means nothing if we are not willing to go further and begin to go to work on what is found disordered within us. Actions such as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are not done in order that we may be seen, but that true transformation may take place within us day by day. Through the reception of these ashes let us call out to the mercy of God who sees what is hidden and invites us to return to Him.

Ash Wednesday Homily

Today we enter into the season of Lent starting with this observance of Ash Wednesday. We fast and pray in order that we who have been touched by sin may come to be set free from such a burden through Christ. These ashes that we will soon dare to receive remind us that we are sinners who are in need of the mercy of God. As our Gospel instructed, “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them.” This means that we must look inwardly upon self and dare to bring forth that conversion which is necessary if we are to be redeemed. May this Lenten season be fruitful for us by entering into it with such a disposition of mind in order that we may truly come to “repent and believe in the Gospel” “for we are dust and to dust we shall return.”

Ash Wednesday Homily

The mark of ashes that we will soon dare to wear upon our foreheads is a reminder that we are sinners who are in need of the infinite mercy of God. This symbol reminds us of our mortality and thus that there will come a time when we will be claimed by death. From the Book of Genesis: “For you are dust and to dust you shall return.” With this realization firmly upon our mind our life must come to be transformed in the Lord’s presence. As we are told of such transformation in the Gospel of Saint Mark “repent and believe in the Gospel.” Let us come to be transformed in His presence by making use of the sacrament of confession where we come to be absolved of our sins and to be aided by the gift of God’s grace. Hopefully this mark will be something more then a mark that is worn for social distinction, but a mark that reminds us that we must leave here with the assistance of God’s grace to live not for the world, but for Christ. Let us choose to live for Him in all that we do.

Ash Wednesday Homily

Today we begin the sacred season of Lent through our observance of Ash Wednesday. The sign of ashes that we dare to bare upon our forehead remind us of our death and our need to do penance. Due to the consequences of the Fall we are told, “By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, Until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” With our mortality placed into perspective we should move day by day towards to God. It is sin which creeps into our life and keeps us from entering into union with Him. We now mourn due to this reality because we see the great length that Christ is willing to endure by embracing the cross out of love for us. May this Lenten season be a time of renewal that draws us closer to Christ by ridding ourself of all that gets in the way of entering into relationship with Him. This is what is symbolized by the ashes that will be marked upon your forehead, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” 

Ash Wednesday Homily

Today we begin the Lenten season through this celebration of Ash Wednesday. As a reminder our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has asked that we offer our prayers and fasting this day for peace throughout the world especially in Russia and Ukraine.

Our Gospel was taken from the Sermon on the Mount. The importance of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving were outlined there. In performing these acts we were reminded that we must be found humble of heart. It is through humility that we do not perform righteous deeds in order to be seen, that we don’t give alms in order to blow a trumpet before us, that we don’t pray in order that others may see us, and that we don’t fast in order to look gloomy. As we were told, “And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”

Throughout Lent let us open our heart to these ancient practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These practices open our heart up to the Lord and assist us in coming to live more freely in our love for Him and our neighbor. It is easy to allow other practices to creep into our life which hold us back from making this a reality. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are all ways that we combat this from taking place.

As we take ashes upon ourself we humble our pride and are reminded that we must live for the Lord. We are reminded that we must repent and believe in the Gospel and that we are dust and unto dust we shall return. Let us use this season and the practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to make this reality so.

Ash Wednesday Homily

This year our instruction concerning how ashes are to be distributed is far different then what we are used to. Recent changes have allowed for a cross to be traced with ashes using a Q-Tip while original instruction told us to drop it on the head of the individual. There were some who were highly upset over this news, but hopefully we are here not because of the mark of ashes that we bare upon our forehead for the world to see, but because we know that Lent is an important season and we desire to enter into it fully.

If others can see the ashes that we dare to bare or not does not change the important reminder of why we received them in the first place, for you are dust and to dust you will return. The reception of ashes is not a symbol of pride, but reminds us that we are sinners who are in need of God’s mercy. These ashes serve as a form of penance which will hopefully move us towards the desire to be reconciled with the Father in the sacrament of His mercy which is know to us as the sacrament of confession.

The world in which we live does not enjoy the reality of penance and yet this reality is so important for us to foster. Through enter into it we let go of all that has become disordered within us in order to we may be reoriented unto God. May this Lenten season renew that which was begun in you at your baptism. Through undergoing these penitential practices that now lay before you may you come to “repent and believe in the Gospel.”

Ash Wednesday Homily

Ash Wednesday serves as a solemn reminder of our mortality and our need for reconciliation with God. When we come forth to be marked with ashes we will be instructed either “Repent and believe in the Gospel” or “You are dust and unto dust you shall return.” In both of these statements we do not hear an invitation to celebrate, but to repent. Therefore, to those who dare to be marked with ashes this day please remember the statement that you make. By surrendering yourself to this ancient tradition you cry out that you are a sinner who is in need of God’s mercy. With that I invite you to make use of the sacrament of confession because if you dare to wear these ashes you have something to confess and are greatly in need of God’s infinite mercy. Dare to surrender yourself to this mercy instead of continuing to profess that one is a sinner who knows that they are such, but rejects God’s mercy. Through this penitential season of Lent may we repent and believe in the Gospel; only then will we become true witnesses of the Gospel message.

Ash Wednesday Homily

On Palm Sunday we celebrate Christ’s joyful entry into Jerusalem. It was here that palm branches were placed along His path and the crowd joyfully came to proclaim: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.” It would only be a few days later that this crowds’ joy would fade into hate. They would now shout: “Crucify Him!”

Now these palm branches have been burned and turned into ash. There is a connection to this joyful entry into Jerusalem because from we too stretch from belief to unbelief. We have entered into the waters of baptism, thus being marked as a follower of Christ, and yet we still reject Him. You can say that in the midst of our sin we stand with the crowd and shout: “Crucify Him!”

Very soon we will dare to bare a mark of ash upon our forehead. Throughout the pages of Sacred Scripture we are not told that ash is a sign of pride, but rather we are told that it is a sign of repentance for one’s sinfulness. I find it odd that so many pride themself for this mark of ash, I find it odd that those who step into Church two or three times a year come out of their way to receive this mark, I find it odd that those who have resolved in their heart that they don’t need the Sacrament of Confession would dare to bare this mark.

To dare to bare this mark of ash is to profess that you are a sinner who is in need of God’s mercy. To dare to bare this mark of ash is to profess that you are a sinner who needs to prevail themself to the Sacrament of Confession. To dare to bare this mark of ash is profess that you are a sinner who is in need of Christ and His Church in your life thus you attend Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation. To dare to bare this mark of ash is to profess that you are a sinner who does not find pride in your sin, but sorrow.

Through Ash Wednesday we enter into the Sacred Season of Lent. May we use this time set before us to reorient our life towards God in order that we may truly come to rejoice with Him anew on Easter Sunday. “Repent and believe in the Gospel” for “You are dust and unto dust you shall return.”

Ash Wednesday Homily

Today we begin the Lenten season and thus we dare to dawn ashes upon our forehead. This is a public statement that we are sinners who are in need of God’s mercy. These ashes also serve a reminder that we will die and thus we should begin to order our life after the Gospel now.

From Wimot-Buxton: “Once was I wont to pluck earthly joys with eager hand; and now I am dust and ashes, the food of worms. Be mindful then to cherish thy soul rather than thy body since the one is immortal, the other perishes.”

As we embark upon this Lenten season may we come to this realization and thus desire to put our relationship to sin behind us as we dare to chase after the Gospel.

Ash Wednesday Homily

Today begins the Lenten season.

Therefore we will receive upon our forehead the mark of ashes making the form of the cross.

The minister of the ashes will say either “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” or “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”

This practice takes us back to scripture and reminds us of our need to turn away from sin in order that we may move back towards God. 

Such as seen in Judith 4:11 “And all the men and women of Israel, and their children, living at Jerusalem, prostrated themselves before the temple and put ashes on their heads and spread out their sackcloth before the Lord.”

The ashes also serve as a reminder of our own mortality and how through the course of time we will come to die.

No matter how hard we try this reality cannot be avoided. It is the only thing which we are entitled to in this life.

Jesus remarks in the Gospel of Saint Matthew: “If the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”

I encourage you to not only receive ashes upon your forehead today, but please realize that the mark which you will soon dare to bare is a public profession made to the world that you are a sinner.

A sinner who is in need of the Lord’s mercy.

A sinner who desires to turn away from their sinfulness and through actions of penance desires to be made clean.

We must mediate upon what we will do between the time when we get these ashes smudged onto our forehead leading up to the moment when we actually become these ashes through our passing into death.

I hope that in the time which will pass from our reception of these ashes leading to our death that we will come to “repent and believe in the Gospel” for we “are dust and to dust we shall return.”

Ash Wednesday Homily

As we begin this solemn Lenten season I must admit that I was surprised, as all of you were, with the announcement of Pope Benedict XVI renouncing the papacy of Saint Peter. His reason for such a surprising announcement came through the reality of his ever failing health. With this announcement of stepping down as the pope our Holy Father has given each of us a great glimpse into humility. Being able to look into our own lives and to admit our own shortcomings is a great action of humility. Pride allows us to look inwardly into our lives and leads us into fooling ourselves into thinking that we are perfect. Humility, on the other hand, counteracts this vice because it allows us to see our need for mercy. Lent is a season where we can turn towards our Lord with humility and begin to pull ourselves away from our pride. Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving we are growing past our sinfulness and restoring our relationship with God.

As surprised as we may find ourselves due to the news of Pope Benedict we should be more surprised at the many people who renounce their faith in Christ and are not open to moving their lives away from sin and death. At times we might even find ourselves placed inside of these situations. Situations where we have turned away from our principles of faith and have even come to renounce the Church and her teachings. Situations where we have fallen into sin and have felt comfortable remaining there instead of challenging ourselves to cooperate with the tension of conversion. Situations where we have been caught up in our thoughts and desires and have failed to allow Christ to enter into our lives. Lent is a season that can help us to live out the tension of conversion and feel challenged to cooperate in union with it. Thus moving ourselves away from our many situations of despair and entering into the great joy that is found with the mercy of God.

Each of our Lenten sacrifices should take us to encountering the joy of the mercy that comes with repentance. We do not fast to impress other people or to destroy our bodies. We instead fast in order to draw ourselves closer to God and His infinite mercy. For some little sacrifices will cause great spiritual growth while others will be able to endure greater challenges. We should not be filled with spiritual pride which leads us to taking on a challenge so great that we cannot endure it. We also should avoid spiritual laziness where our sacrifices are an afterthought and thus through our lack of work will never be able to grow spiritually. Lent should be able to aid us in our realization of our tendency towards sin and our ability to escape from its grasp. The grasp of sin may seem tightly connected to our lives, but with sacrifice and Christ's mercy it can become an afterthought. With all of our Lenten sacrifices our Father in Heaven cannot be fooled and knows our true motives.

On this day we encounter the ashes that will be placed upon our foreheads and will be reminded of our own mortality and the necessity of mercy that is connected to it. "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return." These ashes sum up the Lenten season that we enter into where through fasting, almsgiving, and prayer we are able to encounter the mercy of God within our lives. These ashes give us the outward appearance of penance, but hopefully we will take them to the core of our hearts. In Job, Daniel, Jeremiah. and 1 Maccabbes we see documented use of the ancient custom of using ashes in order to express sorrow for our sins and faults. If you noticed we did not have a penitential act today because the reception of ashes takes on the action of penance that we would normally make at the beginning of the Mass. May we all be able to respond with humility on this day as we begin our journey into the sacred Lenten season in hope to "repent and believe in the Gospel."