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- Ash Wednesday
The real question of the Lenten season is how will I clear out the junk and garbage in my life so that I can be restored to God in some fresh way? What are the disciplines that will open up space for God to create a clean heart and new spirit in me?
- Ruth Haley Barton
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Jl 2:12-18; Psalm 51:3-6, 12-14, 17; 2 Cor 5:20—6:2
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.”
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“Rend your hearts.” —Joel 2:13
Ashes connote humility and death. Ashes are what is left over after something is burned. They are commonly associated with the residue of destruction and death (Est 4:3; Jb 2:8). We die to ourselves in the self-denial of Lent. The ashes of our desires are what remain after this death.
After a forest fire, the forest floor is covered with ashes. The ashes are the residue of death and destruction. However, the ashes also are the beginning of new life for the forest. The fire clears away the accumulated litter on the forest floor which had been smothering seedlings which struggled to grow every year. Now that the fire has burned away this litter, the ashes serve as a sort of mulch which protects and
nourishes the new seedlings. Thus, the ashes enable the cycle of new life to begin.
We are like that. The Lenten ashes of our repentance (see Jb 42:6) and dying to self smother our selfish desires, enabling and nourishing new life to blossom within us.
What new life does the Lord want to spring up as a result of your dying to self this Lent? (see Is 61:3) Will it be a call to a new vocation, the conception of a new child, a new holiness, the courage to witness publicly for Jesus, or joining a small Christian community? Repent! Die to yourself (Lk 9:23). Let Jesus create His new, abundant life (Jn 10:10) in you.
Prayer: Father, may I crucify my flesh with its passions and desires (Gal 5:24). May I always be fertile and fruitful for You.
Promise: “Keep your deeds of mercy secret, and your Father Who sees in secret will repay you.” —Mt 6:4
Presentation Ministries
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Growing in Inner Freedom: A Guide for Today
- by Philip St. Romain. Liguori Publ., 1986.
30. Let Yourself Dream
It is God who, in his good will toward you, begets in you any measure of desire or achievement (Philippians 2:13).
The Spirit of God is manifest within as a force that moves us toward love, truth, peace, justice, and other virtues. For us who regularly strive to love God above all else, these movements can be trusted as helpful guides in the discernment of God's will. By simply noting the directions in which our virtuous tendencies are moving, we come to an understanding of how Christ is calling us to follow
him.
One of our greatest allies in discerning God’s will is the daydream. Nightly dreams are also helpful guides, but they are much more difficult to understand. By daydreams, here, we mean those visions of ourselves and the future that come to us spontaneously as we work and play. Fortunately, we can also invite the daydream to come by practicing exercises such as those listed below.
Many people think it a waste of time to daydream, and, indeed, they are right if that is all we do. But daydreams are one of the ways God leads us into the future. Without a dream of some kind to call us forward, we will only drift. Dreams make use of imagination to surface new possibilities for ourselves and the world, enabling us to become partners with God in the continuing creation of the world.
Incarnation begins with a dream, then becomes flesh when we decide to make our dreams come true.
Suggested Practices
- How would you like to see yourself next year at this time? (Write a description of your ideal job, marriage, condition of health, kind of friends, etc. Envision yourself in these situations. Let yourself feel what it would be like to be there. Make a plan to get there.)
- What would the ideal Church community be like? the ideal government and society? Feel yourself being drawn to make these dreams come true.
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