Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L.
Bishop of Scranton
HOMILY
Ash Wednesday – March 9, 2011
St. Peter’s Cathedral
It’s an interesting phenomenon that we experience each year on Ash Wednesday. In the midst of a culture that doesn’t always revere religious traditions and beliefs, countless numbers of Christians will gather today in churches across this land – and throughout the world – for the imposition of ashes. Right here in our Cathedral, in just a few moments we will walk up this aisle and have the ashes from burned palms scraped across our foreheads – in the sign of a cross, no less. And we will proudly display them for all to see.
Why such a visible sign? Why ashes, of all things? Our immediate reaction to the question of why might be because it’s a tradition that we’ve always embraced. A bit more thought will likely prompt even the least reflective of us to acknowledge the fact that ashes remind us of death, of the brevity and precariousness of life. Life is fragile – just like the ashes that will be imposed upon us – and all of us are given just a little time.
This day reminds us that so often throughout our lives we choose poorly, we develop misguided priorities, we hurt one another and ourselves – we sin. And that acknowledgement reminds the best of us that we are in need of a power bigger than ourselves to help us move forward. We Christians call that power God, revealed to us in Jesus, his son. And so we look to Ash Wednesday, and hopefully the entire season of Lent, as an opportunity to begin again, to re-create, to re-new and to re-form our lives into the image of Jesus – our Savior.
Historically, Lent has always been a time for us to reflect upon the sacrament of Baptism. On the First Sunday of Lent we will welcome catechumens into the ranks of the elect; those from our midst who have begun the journey of conversion and who will soon experience the saving power of Jesus in the Easter mysteries of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist.
For most of us, however, the Lenten invitation to consider our own Baptisms calls us to a quieter and more reflective time in our lives. Lent invites us to recapture a sense of simplicity: to put aside the many things that complicate our lives and to focus again on the simple but profound things of God – love, compassion, forgiveness, justice. The next 40 days call us to free ourselves of the empty and shallow values that take over our lives and become the people we truly want to be in the eyes of God.
The process that we begin today is basic and is revealed in today’s first scripture reading from the Old Testament prophet Joel: “Return to the Lord with all your heart.”
The Gospel then articulates three ways to bring about that return.
Return to the Lord in your prayer – allowing time each day, even if for just a few moments, to be still in the Lord’s presence so that we may hear God’s gentle and loving voice speak to us the message he wishes us to receive.
Return to the Lord through fasting – leaving behind all those unnecessary things that distract and consume us so that we may be ever convinced of our dependency; our need for God.
And return to the Lord as you share; as you give from all that you’ve been given – not only giving of material resources but giving of ourselves to those who need us to acknowledge, to listen, to understand and to forgive them.
Note one more thing from the Gospel. St. Matthew tells us not to be “gloomy.” While Lent is indeed a season for the hard and never fully realized work of conversion – the everyday struggle to embrace the life of Jesus in our own lives – it is above all a season of hope rooted in the paschal mystery: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
As we begin our Lenten journey, may we have the courage to put aside whatever distracts us from the Lord’s love and grace, to turn away from self-centeredness and fear, and to open our hearts to the life and peace of the Risen Christ.
