Inseparable Diamonds in Lent Joel 2:12–18; 2 Cor 5:20–6:2; Mt 6:1–6,16–18 (A)

Inseparable Diamonds in Lent

Joel 2:12–18; 2 Cor 5:20–6:2;  Mt 6:1–6,16–18 (A)

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,”

Ashes do not decorate us. They unmask us. They tell the truth about who we are – fragile, dependent, and in need of mercy. But are we hungry for God, and do you thirst for his holiness? God wants to set our hearts ablaze with the fire of his Holy Spirit that we may share in his holiness and radiate the joy of the Gospel to those around us. St. Augustine of Hippo tells us that there are two kinds of people and two kinds of love: “One is holy, the other is selfish. One is subject to God; the other endeavors to equal Him”. We are what we love. God wants to free our hearts from all that would keep us captive to selfishness and sin. “Rend your hearts and not your garments,’ says the prophet Joel (Joel 2:12). The Holy Spirit is ever ready to transform our hearts and to lead us further in God’s way of truth and holiness.

The forty days of Lent is the annual retreat of the people of God in imitation of Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness. Forty is a significant number in the Scriptures. Moses went to the mountain to seek the face of God for forty days in prayer and fasting (Ex 24:18). The people of Israel were in the wilderness for forty years in preparation for their entry into the promised land. Elijah fasted for forty days as he journeyed in the wilderness to the mountain of God (1 Kgs 19:8). We are called to journey with the Lord in a special season of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and penitence (expressing true sorrow for sin and wrongdoing) as we prepare to celebrate the feast of Easter, the Christian Passover of Jesus’ victory over sin, Satan, and death.

Ash Wednesday is not primarily no only about sin. It is about reconciliation. The Church teaches that Lent is a privileged time of grace, a season given not to shame us, but to save us. The ashes remind us of death, but they are traced in the shape of the Cross—because death does not have the final word. Even our repentance is embraced by mercy. Repentance is a spiritual medicine. St Augustine says that fasting humbles the body so that the soul may rise toward God. In the same way, St John Chrysostom warns that fasting without mercy becomes empty, meaning the fast God desires is one that breaks the chains of injustice.

Ash Wednesday confronts us with a question: “Will Lent change only our schedule or our lives? Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving were inseparable: prayer opens us to God, fasting frees us from selfishness, and almsgiving restores communion with others. Prayer calls us to reorder our priorities. Fasting challenges our attachments and excess. Almsgiving demands concrete love for the poor, the lonely, and the forgotten. These are not private devotions alone; they shape how we live, forgive, and love. As we receive these ashes, let us ask for the grace of a true return—a heart made new, a faith made real, and a love made visible. May this holy season lead us from ashes to life, from repentance to renewal, and from the Cross to Resurrection.

 

“Now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation.”