February 17th, Ash Wednesday

Joel 2: 12-18, Psalm 51: 3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17, 2 Corinthians 5: 20 -- 6:2, Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18

Each year, Ash Wednesday seems like a huge stop sign to me. It tells me to step back from my daily activities and take a long look at what my young adult children call “the big picture.” Where do I stand with God and with those around me?

When I look at the “big picture” of my life I often feel overwhelmed by my omissions, thoughtlessness and selfishness. When I feel unworthy and discouraged, the prophet Joel’s message in the first reading comforts me. He tells us that God is “slow to anger and rich in kindness” in the face of all disasters, even those we have created in our own lives. God is always there, saying “even now, return to me with your whole heart.”

As we turn to God, He asks us to acknowledge the truth of how we stand before him. We ask him for the wisdom to know our own inmost being. As we come to better understand our relationship to Him and to the others in our lives, we know we have to change how we act and pray: to repent. Matthew’s gospel tells us that these changes should not be showy, but they should be sincere, and long-lasting.

My biggest problem with Lent is that after I pass the Ash Wednesday stop sign—after looking hard at my life, telling God how sorry I am, and asking Him to help me change things—I begin to pick up speed and slip back into old habits. This Lent I will ask God to help my spirit be steadfast through the six long weeks of this “acceptable time”, so that I will slow down and prepare well for the Easter miracle.

Kathy Swedo, married to Ray, mother of Barb, Liz and Zach