Ash Wednesday

Even now, says the Lord,

return to me with your whole heart,

with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;

Rend your hearts, not your garments,

and return to the Lord, your God.

For gracious and merciful is he,

slow to anger, rich in kindness,

and relenting in punishment.

Joel 2: 12-14

Lent is an annual opportunity for the individual Christian person to focus in a very intentional and specific way on some dimension of spiritual renewal and/or growth. (February 26, 2006)

It seems that Advent and Christmas were just a short time ago and yet Christians throughout the world begin the season of Lent this Wednesday. While time seems to go so quickly, there is something quite appropriate about celebrating Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter in close proximity. There is in reality one Christ-event one Paschal Mystery. That God in Jesus became human, entered into human history, proclaimed the Good News, suffered, died, and rose, is the essence of Christianity. 

The Paschal Mystery is broken down in order that people might focus on different dimensions of redemption. The time of prophetic anticipation, the Incarnation, the public life of Christ, the death and the Resurrection are all components of the one act of God`s redemptive love. Perhaps during the Lent and Easter season, which follows so quickly upon Christmas, it would be good to reflect on the suffering, death, and Resurrection of Jesus, in the context of the entire redemptive act. 

In the love of Jesus, 

Father Lenny Zamborsky  

February 6, 2005

For Reflection:
The reading from Joel is a little dramatic with the words “fasting, weeping, and mourning.” Then there is “Rend your hearts, not your garments.”  What does that all mean today?

I think we should take Fr. Lenny`s suggestion and return to God with our whole hearts by “focusing in a very intentional and specific way on some dimension of spiritual renewal and/or growth.”

Let us begin our Lent and Easter season by reflecting on the suffering, death, and Resurrection of Jesus.