Readings for Ash Wednesday C: Is.58:1-12; Mt.
6:1-6, 16-21
Feb 28, 2001
The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Church, Cupertino CA,
Lent is the liturgical season that the Church sets aside for meditation, penitence, prayer, and conversion of the heart. It is a time of repair; a time to repair our relationship with God and with others. The word "Lent" is actually a Middle English word which means "springtime." It is the 40-day period of repentance and renewal which precedes Easter and culminates with Holy Week. Historically, the season of Lent has gone through many changes. In New Testament times, it was non-existent. In the earlier centuries of the Christian Church, it was a time of final preparation for those about to be baptized. It was also a time of reconciliation for those people who had committed grave sins to be reconciled back into the community of faith through penitence and forgiveness. During Medieval times, it became a time for self-inflicted acts of denial, with the understanding that acts of self-denial would make a person more religious in the eyes of God.
Unfortunately, as we enter into the 21st century, the season of Lent is being put on the back burner except for the most religious folks in certain Christian denominations. What is the purpose of Lent for us today? Is God calling us to be more pious or is God calling us to become more faithful? Today's readings from the Holy Scriptures have a lot to say about these questions.
The three pillars of religion in ancient Judaism were prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. In today's gospel, Jesus warns his disciples not to be seduced into believing that any of these practices, by virtue of their own worthiness, is really religious or faithful. They are not! The purpose of any practice of piety is to open up the heart to compassion and to aid in the letting go of any practices and attitudes that engender fear and hard-heartedness. Real religion, real faithfulness, become evident, not necessarily when someone prays a lot, or gives alms, or undergoes acts of self-denial like fasting. Rather, real religion and real faithfulness become evident when a person's heart grows in compassion, mercy, and generosity, with a willingness to go the extra mile for one's neighbor.
Sr. Joan Chittister thinks that it is a shame to waste Lent just on churches. She thinks that Lent should become a government activity or a national event since there is so much to repent of in this culture. Corporately, we need to repent of policies such as: denying children health care; the insensitivity of corporations to hire and fire workers depending on predetermined profit margins; the destruction of the earth because of the overuse of resources to satisfy our self-indulgent appetites. Lent seems to lose a little when it is confined only to institutional practices and ecclesiastical symbolism. Since there is so much suffering in the world today, societies everywhere could greatly benefit by practicing a period national and global reflection and repentance. However, repentance always begins with the individual human heart and then expands corporately. That is why we are here today.
On Ash Wednesday, we gather together to kneel and say the Litany of Penitence. This is the time when we are reminded of attitudes and practices that corrupt and destroy the creatures of God. It is the time when we seriously reflect on our alienation from God and each other. All of the almsgiving, all of the fasting, all the praying in the world does not mean anything to God unless it is for the purpose of changing the human heart from a place of self-centeredness and fear to a place of generosity and love. So as the ashes are placed on your forehead, let it be a reminder of two things. First, the ashes are a reminder of our mortality. All of us will die; some sooner than later. This means, we have been given the gift of life for a short time on this planet. Lent is a time to become conscious of how we use this gift of life. Do we use our life to heal and to reach out to our neighbor, or do we use our life mainly to engage our self-indulgent appetites? Second of all, the ashes are a symbol of our commitment to Christ as promised in our baptismal vows. Whenever we stray and fall into sin, we are called to repent and return to the Lord. Lent is a time of self-examination, a time of healing, a time of return to grace. Whatever it takes to place you in that mode of consciousness, then that is what is appropriate for a Lenten practice.
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