Ash Wednesday–March 5, 2025

 Ash Wednesday–March 5, 2025

Joel 2:12-18; 2 Corinthians 5:20 – 6:2; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

3 Pillars of Lent - The Southern Cross 

Theme: Works of Penance: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving

Today, we start the Lenten season. This is a forty-day penitential time in which we prepare to celebrate the Paschal mystery of our Lord Jesus Christ. Note that Penance is part of the Christian way of life. It has to do with Sin and Conversion. We should not ignore it. Let us journey together as a Church. This Ash Wednesday Mass is the kickoff. The ashes that we will receive on our foreheads today will have only as much meaning as we are giving them. Let us make this symbolism a meaningful beginning of a time of penance. The ashes remind us that since conversion is a necessity, then we should not wait until tomorrow; we need to work on it now because “we are dust, and to dust, we will return.” This can happen at the moment we least expect it. Prophet Joel, in today’s first reading, invites us to return to God: “Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning” (Joel 2:12). Saint Paul also, in our second reading, implores us on behalf of Christ, to be reconciled to God. What the first and second readings invite us to do is called “Penance.” The Gospel then explains the works of this penance: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving.

The Church exhorts us to observe prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving during this Lenten Season to help us spend these forty days of preparation well. They are the external works of Penance. They have no value in themselves unless we relate them to the real penance, our conversion to God. Here are some examples (but not limited) of what we are called to do:

1.                  Prayer connects us to God. During Lent, we are encouraged to increase our prayer time. For instance, during these forty days, we commit ourselves to attending the Stations of the Cross every Friday, Daily Masses, Lenten Revival, Bible Study Classes, the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, reading the Bible individually and in the family, praying the Rosary, and other Spiritual exercises. During these forty days of Lent, we are encouraged to make a list of our prayer intentions, if needed, and pray intensely for them. So, let us make our prayer life more significant during this time.

2.                  Fasting connects us to God (in prayer), to ourselves (in conversion), and to others (in charity). Here are different ways of fasting: First, we may work on our sins and weaknesses (for example, our anger, gossip, overeating, and any other addictions) to seek conversion and healing. Second, our fasting can consist of limiting how we use social media, video games, TV, and casinos. Third, we can fast from food. Here are what the Church recommends: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory; abstinence from meat is observed on Ash Wednesday and Fridays. A person (except the sick and over 65-year-old people) is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. Note that fasting from food must be associated with prayer and charity; otherwise, it is just a diet. True fasting must connect us to God (in prayer), ourselves (in conversion), and others (in charity)

3.                  Almsgiving is when we reach out to those in need, especially with the time and money we save from fasting. Use this time to do charity work such as visiting the sick and prisoners, working in the yard and inside our Church facilities, and spending enough time with our families. The money we save from our fasting can be offered to the Church or used to help the poor, including those overseas we do not know. Almsgiving is the gift of what we have and who we are. We offer them with prayer. 

I pray that God bless all of us as we commence our forty-day penitential time today. Amen.

Happy Lenten Season!

Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD

Pastor at Holy Family Catholic Church in Jackson, MS &

SVD USS Biblical Apostolate Coordinator

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