016 Ash Wednesday

Readings

Cycle B Ash Wednesday

New Testament: 2 Corinthians 5: 20—6:2

Old Testament: Joel 2:12-18

Psalm: Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17

Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Homily Theme

A Time for Change

Many of us will be wearing a dirty mark on our foreheads this Wednesday, even Catholics who don't normally attend Mass on a regular basis. It is the one day in the year when you can tell who was in church for sure. What a difference it would make to our world, if all billion and a quarter of us baptized Catholics, made a good confession and resolved to pray, fast and give alms in reparation for our sins and the sins of the whole world. What a different world it would be for forty days, if we not only wore a dirty mark on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday, but every Christian really lived the Christian faith for the 40 days leading up to Easter. If we could get the whole Church to really live Lent as it was meant to be lived, millions would be converted. If we really feed our souls with the love of God and make His presence real in our lives, we will live a different life style, and we could become a major force of renewal in our country and our Churches.

Our Country needs a real change and so does our Church Communities. Listen to the words the priest says as he places that dirty mark on your foreheads. ‘Remember, thou art dust and unto dust you shall return’ or he may say. ‘Repent and believe the Good News’. Many of you may have visited Lourdes, Fatima or Medjugorje and were changed by that visit. Some of you may have had a religious experience on a special week-end retreat or during a parish Mission. You came away with determined to change your life and put God first in it. You promised to pray more, fast and to be generous with alms giving to the poor. Lent is a time to renew those promises and to really initiate that change. It can change not only your life, but the lives of those with whom you come in contact.

Many parishes during Lent will be having parish missions. Why not reach out to friends and neighbors who don’t normally attend church to come with you. It could cause a great change in your Parish and your neighborhood. During such missions, many people who have been away from the Church for years, repent, and return to the Sacraments.

We have seen on TV the horror of false religious fanatics who behead, burn and kill Jews & Christians. Our God is a God of love who forgives the sinner. Lent is a time of a pouring out of grace. It is a time when God is moved by our penance and pours out His love upon us. Reach out in love to all who need to know the love of Jesus, who gave His life for us to in order to change ours.

This is the change we can really believe in.