Pope Francis' Ash Wednesday Homily

Here is a translation of the Pope’s homily from the celebration of the Eucharist today in the Basilica of Saint Sabina, with the rite of blessing and imposition of ashes.

"Rend your hearts and not your garments” (Joel 2:13).

With these penetrating words of the prophet Joel, the liturgy introduces us today into Lent, indicating the characteristic of this time of grace to be the conversion of heart. The prophetic appeal constitutes a challenge for us all, no one excluded, and reminds us that conversion is not reduced to exterior forms or vague resolutions, but it involves and transforms the whole of existence, from the center of the person, from the conscience. We are invited to undertake a journey in which, challenging routine, we force ourselves to open our eyes and ears, but especially our heart, to go beyond our “little vegetable garden.”
To Be Open to God and to Brothers. We live in an ever more artificial world, in a culture of “doing,” of the “useful,” where without noticing it we exclude God from our horizon. Lent calls us to “rouse ourselves,” to remind ourselves that we are creatures, that we are not God.
And we also risk closing ourselves to others, forgetting them. However, only when the difficulties and the sufferings of our brothers draw us in, only then can we begin our journey of conversion toward Easter. It is a journey that includes the cross and renunciation. Today’s Gospel points out the elements of this spiritual journey: prayer, fasting and almsgiving (cf. Matthew 6:1-6.16-18). All three entail the necessity not to allow oneself to be dominated by things that appear: what counts is not appearance; the value of life does not depend on the approval of others or on success, but on what we have within.
The first element is prayer. Prayer is the strength of a Christian and of every believing person. In the weakness and fragility of our life, we can turn to God with the confidence of children and enter into communion with Him. In face of so many wounds that do us harm and that could harden our heart, we are called to plunge ourselves into the sea of prayer, which is the sea of the boundless love of God, to relish His tenderness. Lent is a time of prayer, of a more intense, more assiduous prayer, more able to take charge of the needs of brothers, to intercede before God for so many situations of poverty and suffering.
The second qualifying element of the Lenten journey is fasting. We must pay attention not to practice a formal fasting, which in truth “satiates” us because it makes us feel good. Fasting makes sense if it truly breaks our security, and also if it obtains a benefit for others, if it helps us to cultivate the style of the Good Samaritan, who bends over his brother in difficulty and takes care of him. Fasting entails the choice of a sober life, which does not waste, which does not “discard.” Fasting helps us to train the heart to the essential and to sharing. It is a sign of awareness and of responsibility in face of injustices, abuse of power, especially in dealings with the poor and little ones, and is a sign of the trust that we place in God and in His providence.
The third element is almsgiving: it indicates gratuitousness, because alms are given to someone from whom we do not expect to receive anything in return. Gratuitousness must be one of the characteristics of a Christian, who, aware of having received everything freely from God, namely, without any merit, learns to give to others gratuitously. Today gratuity often is not part of daily life, where everything is sold and bought. Everything is calculated and measured. Alms help us to live the gratuity of gift, which is freedom from the obsession of possession, from fear of losing what one has, from the sadness of the one who does not want to share with the other his own wellbeing.
With its invitations to conversion, Lent comes providentially to awaken us, to shake us from torpor, from the risk of going forward out of inertia. The exhortation that the Lord addresses to us through the prophet Joel is strong and clear: “return to me with all your heart” (Joel 2:12). Why do we have to return to God? Because there are things that are not well in us, in society, in the Church and we are in need of changing, of turning, of being converted! Once again Lent comes to address its prophetic appeal, to remind us that it is possible to realize something new in ourselves and around us, simply because God is faithful, He continues to be rich in goodness and mercy, and is always ready to forgive and start over again. With this filial trust, let us begin our journey!

Quote for March 6th

[Tenderness and mercy] are the heart of the Gospel. Otherwise, one doesn’t understand Jesus Christ, or the tenderness of the Father who sends Him to listen to us, to cure us, to save us.

- Pope Francis, interview with Il Corriere della Sera
March 5, 2014

Ash Wednesday, March  5, 2014

"Lent stimulates us to let the Word of God penetrate our life
and in this way to know the fundamental truth: who we are, where we come from,
where we must go, what path we must take in life..."
- Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
.

The Season of Lent

Lent is the yearly celebration by the Church of its corporate conversion in Jesus Christ. During Lent, the liturgy prepares catechumens to celebrate the Paschal Mystery by the various stages of Christian initiation. It also prepares the faithful for Easter as they recall their baptism and do penance in preparation for the greatest feast of the year.

Lent has two main purposes It recalls or prepares for baptism, and emphasizes a spirit of penance. Through forty days of closer attention to God's word and of more fervent prayer, believers are prepared to celebrate the Paschal Mystery. Lenten instructions stress these baptismal and penitential themes.

During Lent, it is important to teach the social consequences of sin as well as the fact that the heart of the virtue of penance is hatred of sin as an offense against God.

The Church encourages penitential practices that are external and social, reflecting the circumstances of individuals and communities, as we pray and do penance for sinners.

(The above is taken form the Ordo: The Liturgical Calendar 2013/2014 published by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops [CCCB] .

Ash Wednesday is a universal day of fast and abstinence from meat.

Miserere Mei Deus (Prayer for Mercy)
Click here to listen

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness. In your compassion blot out my offense. O wash me more and more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. My offenses truly I know them; my sin is always before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned; what is evil in your sight I have done. That you may be justified when you give sentence and be without reproach when you judge. O see, in guilt was I born, a sinner was I conceived. Indeed you love truth in the heart; then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom. O purify me, then I shall be clean; O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear rejoicing and gladness, that the bones you have crushed may revive. From my sins turn away your face and blot out all my guilt. A pure heart create for me, O God, put a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, nor deprive me of your holy spirit. Give me again the joy of your help; with a spirit of fervor sustain me, that I may teach transgressors your ways and sinners may return to you. O rescue me, God, my helper, and my tongue shall ring out your goodness. O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise. For in sacrifice you take no delight, burnt offering from me you would refuse; my sacrifice, a contrite spirit. A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn. In your goodness, show favor to Zion: rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice, holocausts offered on your altar.