Ash Wednesday
Liturgy of the Hours, 4th week, Psalter omitted
Texts taken from the missal “Sulla Tua Parola,” January-February 2021.
Today the season of Lent begins with the rite of the imposition of ashes, through which we wish to undertake the commitment to convert our hearts and return to God. This season is a precious gift from God; it is an intense time, rich in meaning, in the journey of the Church, a time to rediscover. It is the journey toward the Lord’s Easter. The biblical readings of today’s celebration offer us guidance for living this spiritual experience to the fullest.
FIRST READING
From the book of the prophet Joel (Jl 2:12-18)
Thus says the Lord: “Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Rend your hearts and not your garments, return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, rich in love, and ready to relent from punishment.” Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave behind a blessing? An offering and libation for the Lord, your God. Blow the horn in Zion, proclaim a solemn fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, announce a solemn assembly, summon the elders, gather the children, even nursing infants; let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her bridal chamber. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests weep, the ministers of the Lord, and say: “Spare, O Lord, your people, and do not expose your heritage to ridicule and mockery among the nations.” Why should it be said among the peoples: “Where is their God?” The Lord is jealous for his land and takes pity on his people.
Commentary on the first reading
Today’s first reading invites us to return to the Lord: “Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, rich in love, and ready to relent from punishment.” Precisely because he is rich in love, the Lord offers us this season of Lent to reflect on our “reckless life,” feel longing for him, and return to his home. God respects our choices, even when they take us far from “home,” but as a good Father he dreams of and calls for our return, certain that the magnetism of his love will know how to attract our hearts. Indeed, we easily allow ourselves to be drawn by temptations of apparent freedom that later prove deceptive and misleading. The Lord’s love allows this, but never stops desiring our return; rather, he offers us golden bridges so that we may run along the path of reconciliation: he places his mercy before us, his desire to surround us with his embrace. The God Jesus reveals to us is not vindictive, does not use expressions such as: “I’ll make you pay for it!” He is only capable of loving, forgiving, and embracing again; and he also knows how to respect and wait for our slowness.
SECOND READING
From the second letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians (2 Cor 5:20 – 6:2)
Brothers and sisters, we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. As co-workers with him, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says: “In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation!
Commentary on the second reading
Saint Paul reminds us that the Lord trusts us very much, so much that he chooses us as his diplomats, his ambassadors: “Brothers and sisters, we are ambassadors for Christ.” This means that we bring his thoughts, his way of acting, and his plans to others. Perhaps he exaggerates a little, but certainly he does so because he loves us and considers us ready for this service. An ambassador is the presence of our nation among others. Being ambassadors of Christ, then, means being his presence wherever we are; others expect us to be a visible and credible presence. Popular wisdom says: “An ambassador bears no blame,” but for us it cannot be so: we carry Christ in his entirety, his life-death-resurrection, without using politically correct language. The only credible language of our ambassadorship is the Lord’s unconditional love for each person, for those whom we “represent” (the Christian community), for those to whom we are sent, and for the whole world, just as Jesus did by accepting “to become like us in every way except sin” (cf. Heb 4:15). Let us, then, be reconciled to God.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 6:1-6, 16-18)
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “Be careful not to practice your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. Therefore, when you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to pray standing in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you. And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to others to be fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”
Commentary on the Gospel of the day
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.” The Lord does not mince words: either you are or you are not; either you commit yourself deeply or you use a mask, that mask which hides our face and perhaps even our identity. On the journey of conversion to God’s love, there seems to be no room for carnival or masquerades. Jesus wants us as we are and asks us not to seek loopholes, palliatives, or useless hiding places: be yourself, do not seek popular approval but, on the contrary, shut yourself in your room. It seems clear from this Gospel that adopting certain attitudes “to be seen by others” is not the best choice. We are sent to return within ourselves, to measure ourselves against our hearts, because it seems that the Father sees us better in our innermost selves than in our outward appearance or pretense. To be or to seem? This is a good Lenten choice to make. We hope that forty days will be enough. If they are not sufficient, we have our whole life ahead of us, to spend always with him who knows how to read from within us.
