Ash Wednesday – 22nd February 2023 – Joel 2,12-18; Mt 6,1-6.16-18
Moment to Relent
Today is Ash Wednesday, a day when we are marked with an ashen cross on our foreheads to remind ourselves to live by the cross, as individuals we are but ashes, and to make reparation with almighty and ever forgiving God. Ashes have been a sign of repentance for millennial years. They signify our insignificance and our ultimate destiny to return to God in dust. With God, however, there is a chance for new life, fuller life, and eternal life. Thus, Ash Wednesday gives hope for the new beginning.
The first reading from the book of Joel presents the call to repentance: fasting and refraining from pleasurable acts. All the people are asked to return to the Lord and seek forgiveness for their sins and practice acts of mortification. They are to ask God to spare God’s holy people from the punishment which they deserve for their sinfulness. The prophet Joel challenges all the people to come together and perform acts of self-denial and repentance so that God might “relent/Re-Lent” from punishing the people, which they deserve because of their sinfulness. The word “ReLent” comes from the Latin words “re” meaning “again” and “Lentus” meaning “slow”. Thus “ReLent” means to once again slow down and not be so fast in making judgments. We need to “ReLent” during Lent. We need to slow down our fast-paced living and take the time to take stock of ourselves and to find where we are in our relationship with the Lord and with our neighbours. 40 days of Lent is like a retreat by which we renew ourselves spiritually. It is a special time to come closer to Jesus, who shared his humanity by suffering and death. It is a spring time of renewal from our past misdeeds into the new life of God. Thus, Lent is an opportune moment that God provides to purify our hearts and minds and to turn our intentions back to Him.
