Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, a season of fasting and prayer. It is the time the Church has set aside for us to come back to the Lord in repentance for our sins. During this time, many people give up things they usually enjoy such as chocolate or meat. While this is good, we are also called to give up more than just a snack or a meal for a short period of time. We are called

to make a lasting change in our lives. The Lord speaks to us through the First Reading from the Prophet Joel when He says, “Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,but tear your hearts instead” (Joel 2:13). He wants us to permanently give up something, never to take it up again. While we can give up sweets for a short period, we can also make a bigger sacrifice by giving up an addiction or a negative behavior forever and replacing it with a relationship with God.

How can we give up something we are addicted to or a negative behavior we have been engaging in for most of our lives? Joel 2:12 says, “return to me with all your heart.” The first step we can take is to examine our hearts. If we are playing a game with God and pretend-ing to give up something only to take it back, then we are not dealing with the sin in our lives and God will not answer us. Instead, God is calling us to examine our hearts truthfully. The Lord is inviting us to stop playing around on the surface, but instead to go deeper into our lives and give Him the truth of our hearts—the ugly sin that we hid from the world—with the intention of giving it up for good.

The next thing we can do is to see God differently. Not as a deity in Heaven, waiting to punish us for our sins or as a judge waiting to rule over our lives. Joel 2:13 gives us an idea of the nature of God, “He is gracious and compassionate,slow to anger and abounding in love,and he relents from sending calamity.” Each of us have a picture or an idea of the personality traits of God. Even though we have heard that the Lord is good, when we commit a sin or look inside and see our sinful nature, we may be inclined to hide our true nature from God. But the Prophet Joel is asking us to give up what we think we know about God and to replace it with these traits. God is gracious and compassionate. He is slow to anger and abounding in love. He relents from sending calamity to us. This is the idea of God we must carry in our minds during these 40 days. When we have this idea of God, we are more likely to turn to God and give Him the truth of our lives.

Today’s Psalm gives us a prayer to keep on our lips during Lent. Psalm 51:4 and 12 say, “Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;I have done what is evil in your sight.Restore to me the joy of your salvation and make me willing to obey you.”

In the Second Reading, St. Paul reminds us that the Lord Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins when He was nailed to the cross and therefore, we are made right with God. We need not wait until we are rid of our sins to come to God. But we can come to Him in our sinful state and be cleansed by the blood of Christ. The Lord says in 2 Cor. 6:2, “Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.” Do not wait another day or another hour or another minute to go to the Lord.

In today’s Gospel proclamation, the Lord Jesus is asking us if our motivation is to please God or to have honour among men? Are we entering this Lenten season on the surface or are we ready to make a real change in our lives? In Matthew 6:1 the Lord says, “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.” The Lord is saying that when we do something for human recognition, we are losing the internal revelation from God. As we journey with God and give Him inner responses, God will open our inner lives and reveal His love and presence to us. However, if we are trying to win honour before men then we will miss out on this internal revelation of God within our hearts. When we do something for God, such as fasting or when we do something for someone else, we must do it as an internal response to God. Then God will reveal His presence and love to us. Matthew 6:18 tells us, “Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” The private reward is the interior experience of God.

During these 40 days, the Lord is calling us to look inside our hearts and give Him our sinful nature, behaviour and addictions for good and enter the secret place of God. We can do many sacrifices for God with the intention of deepening our interior lives.

Prayer: Abba Father, may these 40 days lead me to an internal revelation of God. I pray I will know Him more and experience His love in a deeper way. Amen.