Ash WednesdayToday we begin the journey of Lent. It is the journey into prayer that brings us to face who we are despite all the veneer we may use to cover over ourselves.
This is the journey that invites each adult to retun to a genuine relationshiop with Jesus. The challenge for contemporary Catholics is to make certain that the fact-paced America does not infect our hearts and draw us away from the daily dialog we need with God. If we don't allow our hearts and quiet to meld together, where can we make room for the intimacy with God?
Don't parents often remark to children that hanging around with characters whose behavior or way of life is not good, not positive, aren't they saying that good people can make a difference in one's life? Lent is a time when we give special attention to our relationship with the Lord.
In this Lenten season, we use the prayer and fasting and almsgiving underpinings of the season not for themselves. These are molders for us. These Lenten practices are meant to have an impact on ourlives.
In just a few weeks we have taken the journey from the difficult experiences of an animal shelter for a young baby to the foot of a painful cross for a preacher of God's will. During these days of looking up end up giving us something immediately in front of us --- the glories of resurrection.
May your days of Lent be an experience of God's love, his peace for you because these forty days opened up for you an ever clearer vision of who you are.
May Jesus Christ walk with you during these forty days. And may the cross of ashes on your forehead be a sign, an emblem to each other and to those of other faiths that these are sacred days for us. Let these ashes be significant in your life. May they be a reminder of what you have undertaken by asking for the ashes to be put on your forehead.
