JL 2:12-18
PS 51: 3-4, 5-6A B, 12-13, 14 and 17
2 COR 5:20- 6:2
MT 6:1-6, 16-18
On this Ash
Wednesday, we return to an annual call to conversion through the Church's
invitation. Even better, it's Jesus' invitation to us personally and also
communally. People today throughout the world will present themselves to
receive the mark of this call to conversion, to repentance, namely a sign of
the cross on our foreheads made of ashes. These ashes come from the palms from
last Palm Sunday- another outward sign- of the "victorious" entry of
Jesus into Jerusalem. "Victorious" in quotation marks because soon
after Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowds that adored him turned on him and
called for his crucifixion.
The fleeting nature
of those mob scenes that will be revisited at the end of Lent call us to a
sense of depth today. "Even now", the Lord says, "you can turn
to me.” Even now, right now, there is a chance for a new start. There is a
chance for our hearts that have grown dry and hardened and filled perhaps with
self-righteousness, resentment, bitterness and maybe anger- even now, those
hearts can be turned back into hearts of flesh that are able to love and to be
loved. Our hearts can take in the outrage and anger and fear that surrounds us
in today’s world and give back mercy, patience and tenderness. Our hearts can
be changed from being stony to being tender only if we allow them to be
pierced. “Rend your hearts, not your garments” says the Lord. Perhaps we might
ask ourselves at the beginning of this Lent, how might I allow my heart to be
moved, to be pierced, to be broken open for the sake of allowing new love in
and allowing new love to go out from it?
Fr. Chris Collins, SJ is Assistant to the President for Mission and Identity.
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