Every time we go through a new year, it seems that one of the hallmarks of the occasion is to plan out our “New Years Resolutions.” The concept of these is very simple- there is something that we are not doing that we would like to do, or perhaps even kick an old habit. Maybe it is pick up a book and read a little more. Maybe it is heading to the gym to get back into shape. Maybe it’s picking up a healthier diet. These are just a few of many options that one will seek to undertake, because they aren’t doing what they feel they should- and they want a change.
Ash Wednesday is like this in a sense, but is very different in another. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the season of Lent- a season that is penitential in nature. It does tell us something in very plain black and white: we need to “return to [the Lord] with our whole heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning” as we heard in the prophet Joel. Why do we need to do this? As the prophet reminds us, things are not the way they should be. We are a people beset by weakness, and who often fall into sin. We struggle with so many sins of the tongue, of the flesh, and of the mind, and each and every one, no matter how small, is an offense against God. We are not acting as we should- and if we think it doesn’t matter- the prophet reminds us that it very much does. We must repent so that He may relent in what is coming for the unrepentant and flippant one who does not admit their sinfulness and need of God. So the first thing to recall? Ash Wednesday- and the entire season of Lent- remind us that things are not as they should be- we are not treating God as well as we should and often we don’t pay attention to that fact.
Ash Wednesday is a moment of opportunity because it tells us too that this is the time to accomplish the work of repentance. Life can often be so busy, and year fade into year, and things can move so fast that we may forget that we do have a need to return to the Lord, and to draw near to Him again, that He may show us mercy. We cannot treat this as something we may get to later- because we may never actually have the time. What’s worse is that sometimes there is a mentality that, right now I can do as I wish, and later I will repent. We should do no such thing. We should not say that repentance comes later. St. Paul reminds us in the second reading- now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We cannot repent tomorrow, we must start that work today.
Finally, there is something essential that we must keep in focus in our Lenten practice- who we do this for. A New Years resolution is typically done for us. We want something because it will make us feel better or be better in some way. We are doing all these things because we want to. The season of Lent- when we fast, pray and give alms, should not be for us, strictly speaking. Everything we do should be for God. The Gospel reminds us three times- when we give alms, when we pray, and when we fast- don’t do it like everyone else. Don’t do it just for yourself in pride. Rather, do it all in secret, so that God will be the one who is your focus, and may reward you well in time for what you do. Don’t do it for yourself and so that you may praise yourself. Do it for your heavenly Father.
This begins our forty days of penance brothers and sisters, and I pray that each of us take the opportunity that it is to return to God. Let us not make this season about ourselves- and how we may spin it to benefit ourselves. Rather, do all things during this season for our Lord and God, so that He may see our repentance, and may favor us and have pity on us once more. May these next forty days and forty nights of penance please our God, may we remain faithful to our practices, and may we thus experience many great fruits of our Lenten penance.
