First Reading – Joel 2:12-18 ©
Responsorial Psalm - Psalm
50(51):3-6, 12-14, 17
Second Reading – 2 Corinthians
5:20-6:2 ©
Gospel Acclamation Psalm 50:12, 14
Alternative
Acclamation Psalm 94:8
The
Gospel According to Matthew 6:1 – 6, 16 - 18
(NJB)
Listen!
The
anointed one is not a king, Jesus was not a lord; the Romans may have crowned
him with thorns, but to them it was a joke, they were mocking him when they
called him king of the Jews.
Jesus was a
man of the land, one of the am haaretz, his anointing came through death
and through his death he showed us the way of compassion.
Remember.
It is right
and good to pray for the people. It is even better when you do so, to leave the
temple, to leave the church, to be with those who are suffering, knowing that God,
the creator of the universe, that God will not intervene in the suffering we
experience apart from our agency. God has equipped us all to be able to deal
with extraordinary grief and hardship, we have been equipped with everything we
need to lift-up those among us who have been struck down.
When you speak
to people as a Christian, and much more so if you are speaking as a minister of
the Church, speak to them with a spirit of modesty and humility; go to them as
a servant.
Celebrate,
rejoice and be grateful. Share the good news: that God is with you and that God
is kind and that God is caring. Do so, even knowing that God will not intercede
in the course of our lives. God will not free us from oppression, alter our
material condition, remove us from the path of danger. God relies on us to do
that work, for our sisters and brothers, on behalf of the divine,
If you wish
to share the good news, make your life an example of it.
If you wish
to show that God is with us, be with the suffering.
If you wish
to show that God is good, exhibit goodness in your own life.
If you wish
to show that God is kind and caring, then you must be kind and caring…even if
imperfectly.
Be mindful.
With God
there is never justice without mercy, there is no judgement without love.
Know that when
we seek forgiveness from the divine, we are looking for something that has already
found us, which is not to say that we should not seek it.
When we come
to the knowledge of our trespasses and we are contrite, that contrition is the shower
that washes us, this is the baptism of repentance, symbolized by the water, the
reality of which is a fait accompli.
We are all
sinners.
We are animals.
There is
little difference between the human being and the wolf, or the lion, except
that God speaks to us from our innermost being, God is present at the core of our
personhood. By being present to us in this way God gives us the power to
overcome our animal nature, a nature that is bloody and raw. God gives us the
grace to live a holy life; and the wisdom to pursue it in good conscience.
There is no
crime that God has not forgiven…rejoice.
Do not look
for God’s hand in the tribulations we suffer, or the rewards we enjoy during
the time we are on Earth; our troubles are like the wind, fleeting and
ephemeral, temporary and accidental as brief as the pleasures we may enjoy.
Consider the
teaching of the apostle: our salvation is the work of God; God has done the
work, beginning as Saint John said, in the first moment of creation, with the
light in the darkness, all things come to being in the Word
Know this!
The fall,
such as it is, happens subsequent to and in the context of God’s saving work.
Jesus
revealed the truth of it, and entrusted we who follow the way with the
task of sharing it.
This is the
gospel:
You are
reconciled to God.
There is no
debt to pay.
Allow the
burden of sin, and the fear of it to fall away from.
Be glad.
It was
always God’s plan that we fall and rise together, that we rise and fall as one…because
we are one, we are joined together from the beginning, in the goodness of God,
and we cannot separate what God has joined.
The apostle
tells us in the simplest terms that the mission of the church is to announce
the reconciliation.
Hear this!
Everyone is
reconciled in God’s love; there are no exceptions.
The members
of the church are meant to serve as ambassadors of this good news.
The church
is not, nor should it ever be structured like a recruiting agency, obsessed with
signing up members and promising a reward that has already been given freely by
the creator.
The mission
of the church is to proclaim the reconciliation, to proclaim that every day,
from here to eternity, that every day is the day of salvation.
All
creation belongs to God, all that is good and all that frightens us, everything
comes from God and will redound to the good.
This is the
essence of faith.
Therefore
be mindful!
You
will have no reward from God in this life.
Consider
the Gospel reading for today:
Do
not seek glory or glorify yourself in public.
Do
not seek admiration from the world at large.
Do
as Jesus said: pray in private, not in public, do not boast of your piety.
Do
not brag on how much you give to the world, or how well you pay your employees,
do good for the sake of doing good, be fair for fairness’ sake.
Go
to your work and to your disciplines gladly, if you are fasting then fast,
smile and be happy.
This
is the way to proceed, not just for the season of Lent, but for all the days of
your life.
First
Reading – Joel 2:12-18 ©
Let
Your Hearts Be Broken, Not Your Garments Torn
‘Now,
now – it is the Lord who speaks – come back to me with all your heart, fasting,
weeping, mourning.’
Let
your hearts be broken, not your garments torn, turn to the Lord your God again,
for he is all tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness, and
ready to relent.
Who
knows if he will not turn again, will not relent, will not leave a blessing as
he passes, oblation and libation for the Lord your God?
Sound
the trumpet in Zion!
Order
a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, call the people together, summon the
community, assemble the elders, gather the children, even the infants at the
breast.
Let
the bridegroom leave his bedroom and the bride her alcove.
Between
vestibule and altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, lament.
Let
them say, ‘Spare your people, Lord!
Do
not make your heritage a thing of shame, a byword for the nations.
Why
should it be said among the nations, “Where is their God?”’
Then
the Lord, jealous on behalf of his land, took pity on his people.
Responsorial
Psalm - Psalm 50(51):3-6, 12-14, 17
Our
God comes and will not be silent!
Devouring
fire precedes him,
it
rages strongly around him.
He
calls to the heavens above
and
to the earth to judge his people:
“Gather
my loyal ones to me,
those
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
The
heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for
God himself is the judge.
Were
I hungry, I would not tell you,
for
mine is the world and all that fills it.
Do
I eat the flesh of bulls
or
drink the blood of he-goats?
Offer
praise as your sacrifice to God;
fulfill
your vows to the Most High.
You
hate discipline;
you
cast my words behind you!
Second
Reading – 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 ©
Be
Reconciled to God
We
are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us, and
the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God. For our sake
God made the sinless one into sin, so that in him we might become the goodness
of God. As his fellow workers, we beg you once again not to neglect the grace
of God that you have received. For he says: At the favourable time, I have
listened to you; on the day of salvation I came to your help. Well, now is the
favourable time; this is the day of salvation.
Gospel
Acclamation Psalm 50:12, 14
Praise
to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
A
pure heart create for me, O God, and give me again the joy of your help.
Praise
to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Alternative Acclamation Psalm 94:8
Praise
to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Harden
not your hearts today, but listen to the voice of the Lord.
Praise
to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
The Gospel According to Matthew 6:1 –
6, 16 - 18
Your
Father Who Sees All that is Done in Secret Will Reward You
Jesus
said to his disciples: ‘Be careful not to parade your good deeds before men to
attract their notice; by doing this you will lose all reward from your Father
in heaven. So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is
what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win men’s
admiration. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you give
alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing; your almsgiving
must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward
you.
‘And
when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers
standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them;
I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you pray, go to your
private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in
that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will
reward you.
‘When
you fast do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they pull long faces
to let men know they are fasting. I tell you solemnly, they have had their
reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that no
one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in
secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.’
Ash Wednesday (Year B), A Holy Day of
Obligation
