February 24, 2023
Paulist Fr. Rich Andre preached this homily for Ash Wednesday on February 22, 2023 at The Paulist Center in Boston, MA. The homily is based on the day’s readings: Joel 2:12-18; Psalm 51; 2 Corinthians 5:20 – 6:2; and Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18.
Believe it or not, Ash Wednesday is one of the busiest days of the year here at the Paulist Center. We will welcome roughly the same number of visitors today as we do on Christmas Eve or Easter Sunday. Why is that? Some people joke that it’s because Ash Wednesday is a day when people get something for nothing. Others argue that the ashes are sacramentals: an outward sign, or “proof,” of God’s grace.
But probably the main reason is that there are few public rituals in the world like Ash Wednesday. We all know that we are sinful, but today, we publicly acknowledge our sins and imperfections as a society.
We start Lent with this acknowledgement. As we will hear the prophet Joel exhort us: “Proclaim a fast, call an assembly; gather the people.” Today, we fast. Today, we gather. Today, we acknowledge our sins.
Joel also conveys the hope that “perhaps [God] will again relent and leave behind… a blessing.” It is in this spirit of hope that we now bless the ashes that we will receive.
[After the blessing and imposition of ashes, the opening prayer, the first reading and the psalm:]
Before we continue this Mass, let us sit in contemplation for a few minutes. Sit comfortably, but with your spine straight. Place your feet flat on the floor. Breathe deeply and slowly. Let us sit with soot on our foreheads, contemplating the following questions:
[Pause for 2-3 minutes with instrumental music.]
We begin the season of Lent with an acknowledgement of our sinfulness, but
this is not where we are called to stay for the remainder of the season. Let us begin
the process of growth and healing as we listen to an exhortation from St. Paul.
[After second reading and the gospel:]
When you hear the word “Lent,” what’s the first thing you think of? A sooty smudge on your forehead? Eating fish? Giving up chocolate? The stations of the cross? Other forms of self-denial, almsgiving, and prayer? Those may be part of Lent, but they’re not the main point.
The fasting, almsgiving, and prayer of Lent are all interconnected, and they’re all about connecting us with others. For example, in medieval times, the secular authorities allowed the serfs of the manor to fish, but not to hunt. The Church began requiring the lords and ladies of the manor to eat like the serfs every Friday. The money that the lords and ladies saved by eating fish was to be given to the poor. So, if you love seafood as much as I do, going out for an expensive sushi dinner every Friday is not in the spirit of Lent. If you hate shopping as much as I do, cutting back on spending isn’t in the spirit of Lent unless we give that money we save to people in need. If we spend extra time in prayer, but that prayer time doesn’t focus at least partially on the needs of marginalized people, we’re not necessarily praying in the spirit of Lent.
Lent is not the liturgical season of self-help. Lent is not a second attempt to keep our New Year’s resolutions. Lent is about us growing closer in our relationship with God! The word Lent comes from an old Dutch and German word meaning “springtime.”
I’ll admit that the connection between Lent and springtime made more sense when I was a priest in Tennessee and Texas. But bear with me as I push the analogy a bit! Like spring, Lent is a season. That means that it comes at a certain point each year, but it also means that we’re at a different point in our lives each time it comes around. Lent can be happy or sad, action-packed or contemplative. It can be whatever we need it to be. It’s like what Jesus says about the Sabbath. Lent was created for us, it’s not that we were made to conform to Lent.
Hopefully, after a few years, we’ll be able to look back at previous Lenten seasons and recall the gifts we received from the Holy Spirit that year. For me, I still recall the unique ways I grew in relationship with God over many different Lents of the past 3 decades. I was in a different season of my life in each of those years, and I grew in a different way each of those seasons!
This first day of Lent is a day to reflect on our sinfulness. What is weak or sinful in us? What needs to be healed in us? What needs to be strengthened in our relationship with God?
But Lent calls us to rise from the ashes of our past failures, to bring a new “springtime” to our spiritual life. Hopefully, every year on Ash Wednesday — and perhaps in the few days before and the few days after Ash Wednesday — our reflections on our failings will naturally lead us to ideas for disciplines to open us to the grace of the Holy Spirit.
So where are we called to grow in our relationship with God over the next 6 weeks? Some years, perhaps we’re called to grow in simple ways through simple disciplines. Perhaps, in other years, we’ll have the ability, the opportunity, or the energy to do something more heroic.
I believe that it is only after contemplating how we want to grow that is it then time to think of disciplines to take up this particular Lent. For example, I have yet to meet anyone whose main obstacle in their relationship with God was chocolate. So this Lent, eat all the chocolate you want!
Lent is a time to recognize our need to rely on the Holy Spirit. Even if we fail in upholding the disciplines we take on, God is still with us. Jesus fell three times while carrying the cross. What can the Holy Spirit teach us if we fall?
With all that said, here are some suggestions on matching up some disciplines with the some of the growth edges we may identify in our relationship with God:
Don’t know how to pray? Take a copy of the daily devotional we have in the vestibule. Are you too self-centered? Perhaps serving our hungry neighbors at the Wednesday Night Supper Club can help you gain perspective. Need a spiritual boost in the middle of the workweek? Join us for a series of online Lenten prayer services. Feel that you’re too busy? We’ll have a special retreat in March designed to be done in chunks of time that are convenient for you. Are you in your 20s or 30s and want to find friends to go to church with? Sign up for our young adult faith-sharing group on Sunday evenings in Lent. There’s information for all of these things in the bulletin, so please take one with you at the end of Mass. None of these disciplines match your identified growing edges this Lent? Check out bustedhalo.com’s spiritual resources, including their popular Fast-Pray-Give calendar. Again, that’s Busted Halo dot com.
And, if at all possible, receive the sacrament of Reconciliation this Lent. And please don’t wait until Good Friday: it makes sense to begin this season afresh, rather than waiting until the end. A priest is available for confessions here every Monday and Friday at 11 am. You can also make an appointment at a time convenient for you, or you can join us for a special communal reconciliation service next month.
The main point is this: Lent is a season for us to grow in our relationship with those most in need and to grow in our relationship with God. As St. Paul says, “now is a very acceptable time.” On behalf of the entire community at the Paulist Center – we wish you a prayerful, refreshing, and profound Lent.