Ash Wednesday, 22 February 2012, Year B
1st Reading: Joel 2:12-18
A classic passage from the Scriptures of lament, this reading from the prophet Joel calls on the listener to repent not simply with exterior actions, but also with the heart. It is also at a dark point in the people’s history, when an army is waging war on them, that the call to genuine repentence comes from Joel. It is paradoxical that when we are at our lowest ebb that we are most open to the divine. This reading speaks to the changed fortunes of our own people in recent years.
2nd Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:20 – 6:2
The letters of St Paul to the Church at Corinth arise out of differences between the Apostle and the Church that he was instrumental in founding. The Corinthians believe that they know better than St Paul, and they challenge his authority. In this reading, St Paul challenges the Corinthians to “be reconciled to God”. This critique of the community of faith is one that is relevant to us as well. We too think that we know better and that we have little or nothing to learn. We are challenged to learn about our own inadequacies as a community of faith, coming from what we believe to be a rich and proud tradition.
Gospel
Matthew 6:1-6. 16-18
Notice that today’s gospel omits the section of Matthew from verse 7 to 15, which is the core teaching of Jesus on prayer – the Our Father. Perhaps today is more about what is not said, than what is said. This passage focuses on the how and why of the Christian life. Why do we give alms, and fast, and pray? How should we give alms, and fast, and pray? The answers that we come up with to these questions have the power to renew us in the Christian life.
Homily Notes
The ashes that we use today symbolise the wisdom of gospel – the ‘how and why‘ of the Christian Way. As we journey around our own community today, at work or at school, in the office or on the bus, we notice the other people who have received ashes on their foreheads. We share a visible, common bond with them; the common bond of renewing our journey of faith, together, over this period of Lent. This bond, which today we see on the foreheads of those who follow the Christian Way with us, points to the common bond that we share with all of humanity – the realities of life and death, of love and grief, of healing and illness, of joy and sorrow.
In wearing this sign of our renewal in Christ, we show solidarity with the poor and the destitute, and we celebrate the new hope and new life that spring out of moments of grief, suffering and pain. We celebrate the families of Northern Uganda who survived the Barlonyo massacre of Saturday, February 21st, 2004. We show solidarity with Daniel, his mother Betty, and father Joel. Our fasting today is not only about our individual penitence, or our own spiritual growth. Our fasting is a real and substantial solidarity with Daniel and his family. What we save by fasting today is the means of our almsgiving tomorrow. Almsgiving, the restoration of justice, is a core reason for fasting. And our prayer draws us deeper into the solidarity and communion we share with Daniel, his family and with God.
by: Fr John Coughlan, CC – Parish of the Sacred Heart, Roscommon Town, Roscommon
