Ash Wednesday, 2020

Today is a wakeup call to the impermanence of earthly life. A sign that we are simply pilgrims on a journey. Merely passing through what seems so real, but in fact is only the appearance of things. An illusion with no weight, no lasting value. It is a false treasure that may glitter now, but in the end is rust and dust.

  And it is vanity to cling to this world-treasure. It is vain to hold our self, up over others. To use too much and to have too much. It weighs us down as it beguiles us with success, power and wealth. This is a fire that burns bright, and like a moth we are drawn to it, but in the end it simply burns itself out.  No fire lasts forever.

 We are here to receive ashes that mark us, with a cross, as a people desiring to exist in a new way. To exist for the love that is God and for his son, our Lord Jesus. We begin to exist in a new way when we turn away from the bright flame towards God and with hearts already being made new by alms giving, fasting and prayer we become reconciled with he who loved us first.

 To be humble is to be hidden, but the Father see’s all hidden things. In humility, through alms giving, we share what we have with those in need. And not because they are poor, but because they a human beings. In humility we consume less, marked by prudent and mindful fasting. In humility we strive to be less selfish and self-centered by prayer that doesn’t speak at God, but rather silently listens to God. In the humility and kindness that is almsgiving, fasting and prayer we break the hold that the world has on us.

And it all begins with the ashes, but eventually it leads us to the fire of the Easter Vigil. And to the discovery that, in the tomb, the body of Jesus does not turn to ashes, but rises gloriously.

 This is true for us, who as flesh and blood in this world are indeed dust. But, as children of God who return to our loving father by taking the path of love, we embrace and will be embraced by that new life in God that never ends.