Who Are the Ashes for?
Feb. 14: Ash Wednesday
Happy Valentine’s Day!1 Wait, no, that’s not right…
Obviously, Ash Wednesday supersedes St. Valentine’s Feast, but he’s still a pretty cool saint. Although he was a bishop and therefore celibate, the reason he’s associated with romance is that he helped dozens of Christians get married in secret. Emperor Claudius had outlawed marriage, so he could conscript more unmarried men to his army. But joining couples together in matrimony was far more important to Valentine than whatever war the emperor was engaged in at the time. He was martyred for protecting loving relationships.
The Church presents marriage as a sign of Jesus’ love for His people. His devotion is even more unfailing than husbands’ and wives’ for each other, but a good, holy couple can at least show us a glimpse of how God loves us.
Reading 1
Jl 2:12-18
Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. Perhaps he will again relent and leave behind him a blessing, Offerings and libations for the LORD, your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion! proclaim a fast, call an assembly; Gather the people, notify the congregation; Assemble the elders, gather the children and the infants at the breast; Let the bridegroom quit his room and the bride her chamber. Between the porch and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep, And say, "Spare, O LORD, your people, and make not your heritage a reproach, with the nations ruling over them! Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"
Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land and took pity on his people.
Normally, kids and the elderly, even newlyweds were exempt from fasting. But Joel is prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem, and it’s an all-hands-on-deck kind of situation.
Today, the Church does grant exemptions to a certain degree for those with special needs, but Lent is Lent. The reason we give things up is to remove distractions, to focus on God.
What is distracting us? What prevents us from weeping and saying, “Spare, o Lord, your people”?
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
"Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight."
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
I find it interesting that this Psalm basically takes us through the whole of Lent. We, all of us, all of humanity, have sinned and continue to sin. We need saving, and ask God for help, to bring us back to Him.
Jesus does this, through his crucifixion and resurrection. We know the end of the story. Yet we have to go through it, again and again, year after year, because we always need Him.
Reading 2
2 Cor 5:20—6:2
Brothers and sisters: We are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says:
In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Now is the time to accept God’s grace, and be an ambassador for Christ. We bring God’s grace to the world, through prayers and actions. Don’t let His offer of grace be in vain.
Verse Before the Gospel
See Ps 95:8
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
You can’t hear his voice if you’re not listening. Keep an ear out, as well as an open heart.
Gospel
Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
Jesus said to his disciples: "Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
"When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
"When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you."
When our church switched from just a collection basket to online donations, I was one of the first to sign up. Mainly because I frequently forgot to bring my donation envelope, and I rarely carry cash in my wallet. Regular online donations meant I never had to worry about it.
But one thing I felt weird about after that was passing the collection basket without putting anything in it. I didn’t particularly care if people saw me putting something in, but I was worried that someone would notice me not putting something in it.
I didn’t want to brag, but I didn’t want to be seen as a freeloader, either. Does that make sense?
After we moved to our current church and signed up for their online tithing, they gave us little slips of paper that said we donated online. I liked it, because I remember always asking to put the envelope in the basket when I was a kid, so it gave Amelia something to do.2 Plus, there’s a social aspect to it. If people see others are donating, they’ll see this as a Church Where People Donate. It’s not social pressure; no one’s telling you you have to do it. It’s more norm-setting.3
Which brings me to the ashes on the forehead. Jesus specifically tells us to wash our faces. So why the ash crosses?
It’s not to make everyone feel sorry for you. It’s to proclaim the start of the season. It’s to remind people who’ve lapsed, hey, it’s not too late to pick it up again. And to reinforce those who are part of the community, to know that they are not alone.
Our motivation for the ashes is as important as the ashes themselves. Are we boasting in our own piety, or boasting in the cross of Christ?
Unless you’re a paid subscriber, who gets these posts early. If you’re not a paid subscriber, maybe you should consider signing up for Lent?
As her disease progressed, the usher in our section would always wait patiently while she struggled to release the card. Unfortunately, she no longer can do even that.
It’s like that parking lot litter study from a few years ago: “The most dramatic results we’ve gotten are from situations that show people disapproving of littering,” Cialdini said. “One study took place in a library parking lot. People left the library, and there was a piece of paper on their windshield. The thing that most affected people was when they saw someone nearby reaching down and picking up a piece of litter with a disapproving look. When they got to their own cars, not one person littered. If they didn’t see anyone picking up litter, 33 percent littered. We went from a third of the subjects littering to zero, when they saw an example of someone like them who picked up litter and showed disapproval.”