REFLECTIONS/ARTICLES

                          The season of Lent goes back to about the fourth century. It began as a period of special preparation for adults being baptized during the Easter vigil. Lent was the time the early church used as the final stage of preparation for people who were going to be baptized or received into the church at Easter. For those already baptized, every Easter Sunday Mass was a time to renew their baptismal promises, to reject sin and the lure of evil. Today Lent is a time of prayer and penance, when Christ wants to lead us back to our baptismal promises of dying to sin and of living for God. We prepare ourselves to enter once again into Jesus’ Paschal mystery and to renew it in our lives. It is a special season for healing and restoring our relationship with Jesus.
                     Beginning on Ash Wednesday, Catholics are called to use the season of Lent to examine their relationship with God as they prepare for Easter. The holy season of Lent commences with black ashes on the forehead in preparation to celebrate the mystery of the cross. Lent lasts 40 days so that we can spend the right amount of time in this period of penance and preparation before Easter. The period of 40 days represents a period of preparation or testing. The number 40 has special significance in the Bible. It was the number of days water flooded the earth, the years Israel wandered in the desert and the days Jesus fasted in the desert. So we take these 40 days to enter into preparation into new life God has waiting for us. We contemplate how Christ gives us hope, forgiveness and new life through the cross and through His mercy.

                        Lent is also a time to find out how to get closer to God. The season of Lent is a time to grow in our relationship with Christ through increased prayer, acts of charity, alms giving and fasting. It’s a special season for healing and restoring our relationship with Jesus. The readings for Ash Wednesday are a call to return to God and His love and mercy. The first reading from the Book of Joel reads: “”Yet even now,” says the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil” (Joel 2:12-13). Joel reminds the people of God who wants them to come back to Him and to receive the love and mercy that He has to offer. God spends His time longing for our return to Him. Our fasting, prayer and alms giving during Lent should be about coming into a closer relationship with God who saves us through His son. These practices call us to seek God where He is: in the midst of the poor and the marginalized. It is only when we reach out to the least in our midst that we find God.

                         In the Gospel reading from St. Matthew, Christ describes for His followers how to live a life of penance in what has become the traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and alms giving. The Lenten period is intended to be a time of self-denial, moderation, fasting and forsaking sinful activities and habits and at the same time calling on Christians to seek spiritual direction. Lent is a blessed time when we can slow down and actively reflect on our spiritual journey. We are called to examine our hearts and minds, our whole lives in respect to God. Lent reminds us that this is the season to turn away from our worldly distractions and to journey home to God.

                              The Church invites us to prepare for Easter by doing individual penance and penance as a group, by reading God’s word more carefully, by praying more ardently, including sincere prayer for sinners and by giving of ourselves to the service of God’s people. Giving up something for Lent is ultimately a form of fasting. We can deprive ourselves of some small pleasure or indulgence and offer that sacrifice up to God or we might give up a bad habit such as smoking as a way of positively turning our life back towards what God wants for us.
                      So Lent is the season of repentance, confession, and penance. We are called to repent and to change our hearts. In Matthew 3:8, St. John the Baptist tells the Pharisees and the Sadducees who come to him for baptism for the repentance of sins, “Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance” (Matthew 3:8) and St. Paul says in Acts 20:26 “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds” (Acts 20:26). During the 40 days of Lent we are called to deep soul-searching and to an examination of conscience to seek out the sin in our lives by uprooting habits and tendencies that are contrary to God’s will. We are called to confess our transgressions and to offer up our sincere desire to right the wrongs we have done. It is a time of conversion, of turning away from our sins and of turning back to God and living for God.

                             Lent’s attitude of conversion and turning back to God is a personal journey and Catholics are asked to make going to confession a significant part of their Lenten experience. Through the sacrament of penance, we are drawn into the loving arms of God. Confession is where healing of the wounds caused by sin can take place. We should reflect on whether there are any sins we need to be forgiven. That reflection should lead us to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is the most healing sacrament. Through the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, we seek to obtain pardon through God’s mercy for the sins committed against Him and against our brothers and sisters in the human family. This is the season in which we are invited to much more intensely recognize the great mercy and the great love of God.

               In this 40-day journey to holiness, we are called to recommit ourselves in loving God and our brothers and sisters, keeping in mind what St. Paul says: “Therefore, we aspire to please him, whether we are at home or away. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:9-10). We must also remember Jesus’ command in the Sermon on the Mount to show our love for God by helping those in need through our alms giving, and through exercising discipline over the material world through the spiritual practice of fasting united to prayer (Matthew 6). At the end of the Lenten journey if we have truly humbled ourselves and submitted ourselves to the Lord in prayer, reconciled ourselves with our brothers and sisters and extended God’s love to others through works of charity we will be able to celebrate the resurrection of Our Lord with greater meaning and depth.

REFLECTIONS/ARTICLES

                

                       Advent is a season in the Christian year that lasts for about four weeks. It begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve. Christians prepare for celebrating the birth of Jesus by remembering the longing of the Jews for a Messiah. The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming” or “visit. It is a season of anticipation, of expectation and of reform in preparation for the arrival. Christians celebrate the fact that God has visited His people in the person of His Son in order to be crucified and raised. They await His second Coming, believing that all of God’s promises made in and through Jesus will be realized in the age to come. Christians live between the two comings of Christ. The two comings of Christ are held together in Christian thought, action, and prayer at all times. They cannot be separated. Jesus was born in order to die. Indeed, of all humans who ever lived on earth, God’s Son is the only one who entered the world for this purpose. He came to die so that we might live in and through him. It is not enough for us, then, to be content with His first coming; we must wait in hope of His second coming. What we said at His first coming, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” (Mark 11:10, Psalm 118:26) we shall repeat at His last coming in adoration along with the angels.

                        Advent is a season of watching, of waiting, of meditating on what it means for us as Christians to be prepared. Throughout the Advent season we anticipate the coming or the arrival of Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, Our Saviour. It is the season when we stand like sentries at the post, watching for the coming dawn. Our watching and waiting is not in vain, for we know Christ has come, and will come again. We are still awaiting this final coming of Our Judge and Saviour, Jesus Christ. In His final coming “all flesh shall see the salvation of our God,” Luke 3:6 and “they shall look on him whom they have pierced.” John 19:37 There is another coming which is hidden. In it, only the chosen see Him within themselves and their souls are saved. St. Bernard of Clairvaux talks of this coming as the “time of visitation” by which Christ is now present and active in each of our lives. Daily He is at work in us through grace to transform us into His image and likeness and to bring us salvation and healing from the sin, difficulties, sicknesses, and human frailties of our everyday lives. In the first coming Christ was our redemption, in the last He will appear as our life, in this intermediary coming He is our rest and consolation. Christ Himself said, “If a man loves me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him” John 14:23.

                         During this season, as our awareness for the first coming of Christ is heightened, our longing and expectation for His Second Advent increases as well. The proclamation, “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” John 1:14 assures us that God has entered into human history through the incarnation of the Son and as we set out on a journey of longing with songs, prayers, scripture readings, receiving the Eucharist, and the progressive lighting of the Advent candles each week, we not only imagine and rehearse the plight of Israel in the Old Testament as they waited for their Messiah to come and establish God’s kingdom but also eagerly await the end of the world and the end of our lives, looking forward to resurrection and the consummation of the universe in Christ when Jesus comes again as a victorious King. We, too, like the Israelites, anticipate the reign of the Messiah, who will bring peace and justice and righteousness to the world and who will usher in the Kingdom of God with all of its blessings. Then, there will be no more sorrow or tears and “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” Isaiah 2:4.

                         But whether anticipating the Incarnation or the Second Coming, advent is a season of inextinguishable hope. Jesus Christ has come and will come again bringing peace, justice and righteousness to the world. This is the hope of the Church whom He purchased with His blood. It is the eager expectation and desire of His people. His coming is our joy, for He is our treasure and our greatest good. As we quietly prepare for and anticipate the birth of a child and not just any child but “Emmanuel” (God with us) we have to keep in mind that the purpose of the incarnation of Jesus was to provide hope. In a total act of love “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” John1:14. God became a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ coming to live among us. This was the miracle of incarnation. God came to be with His people, coming down to our level and He had come to stay because He loves us. He had come to ransom His people held captive by sin and darkness. The Light of the World had come bringing the hope of salvation to all. So as we place our hope in the infant born in a manger two thousand years ago we also now place our hope in Our Lord when He comes again as King. In hope we surrender ourselves completely to Him in the midst of the stress, confusion and mixed blessings we know every day. There is a deep longing in us, for God to show Himself for who He is again. We long with the hope that God will once again be faithful to see our circumstances, to hear our cries, to know our longings for a better world. In Advent, this deep human longing is focused on Jesus who brings us the rays of hope and whose coming in our daily lives and at the end time, is the only hope we have to satisfy our deepest need.

                          For this reason, Advent began as a penitential season, a time for discipline and intentional repentance in the confident expectation and hope of Christ’s coming again. It gives us an opportunity to examine our relationships with the Lord and with one another, to confess our sins, to reform our lives, and to prepare ourselves for Christ’s coming. Thus we hear in the Advent readings John the Baptist’s message of repentance: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand… ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his path’” Matt. 3:2-3. John made it clear that preparation for the coming of the Messiah demanded conversion of heart and transformation. He exhorted His listeners, “Give some evidence that you mean to reform” Luke 3:8. The need for repentance and conversion of heart remains constant among God’s people. The Advent liturgy vibrates with John the Baptist’s message. So if our Advent is full of prayer and penance for our sins, we will more likely be prepared to be full of compassion and joy at Christmas. If we have placed our trust in Our Lord, prayed for those whom we love, and for those with whom we have a difficult time, we will be better able to be with them with greater compassion, peace and love. We will be less tempted to judge and less disturbed by anxiety and anger and our loved ones will experience the difference in us. They will more likely see our faith and be touched by it. Even without words, we can be evangelists of the Good News we will be gathering to celebrate.

                          Though the coming of Our Lord Jesus is certain, the time is unknown. It will come swiftly and unexpectedly. Jesus warns us not to be caught off guard when that day arrives. In Matthew 24:44 He says: “Always be ready because I am coming at an hour you do not expect.” So we must be attentive and prepared always. Jesus urges us to ever be vigilant, taking care to live as Christians should, watching and praying so that we are not found unprepared at the time of His coming. Scripture also exhorts us in many places to be alert, to not fall asleep, to not be caught “left out”. “Watch therefore — for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning — lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Watch”” Mark 13:35-37. When He comes we should be found living “lives of holiness and Godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God” (2 Peter 3:11-12).

1 Peter 1:13 says, “Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed”. Though we have placed all our hopes on the coming Saviour during this advent season, the hope can be inflamed within us only when we reach out to share life with and care for people in need, for the hungry and homeless, for victims of injustice and oppression and for those who suffer from sickness or sadness. Advent can be a time to touch those in need, not only so that we might share God’s love with them, but also so that our yearning for the kingdom might be renewed within us. May we set our hope more fully on God and His coming kingdom during this season, and may this hope be as a weapon in our hand, fending off any despair or doubt that arises in our minds, for the Bible says, “those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” Isa 40:31. So advent not only helps us to focus more on the Lord, to get in touch with our need for Him and to replenish our hope in Him, but it also helps us to celebrate Christmas with greater meaning and depth.

REFLECTIONS/ARTICLES

7. “Father into your hands I commend my spirit” Luke 23:46.

The seventh and final word of Jesus is from the Gospel of Luke and is directed to the Father in heaven, just before He dies. Jesus recalls Psalm 31:5 “into thy hands I commend my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O lord, faithful God.” John’s Gospel relates that it was the Day of Preparation, the day before the actual Passover that Jesus was sentenced to death and sacrificed on the cross. He died at the ninth hour (3 o’ clock in the afternoon) about the same time as the Passover lambs were slaughtered in the temple. Christ became the Passover Lamb as noted by Paul: “For Christ our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed” 1Cor 5:7. The innocent lamb was slain for our sins, so we might be forgiven.

As we reflect upon this final word of Jesus from the cross, we are struck by the love, trust and confidence Jesus always placed in His Father. He started His mission at the River Jordan as the beloved Son and the chosen messenger. He entered His suffering and Passion trusting in His Father and telling Him that if it His will He would willingly drink the chalice given to Him. Jesus gave His very life to His beloved Father. His spirit was the last thing that Jesus had to surrender. Jesus has offered His body on the cross as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Now He entrusts His Spirit to the Father, fully assured that it would be safe with Him. Jesus was sent by the Father and He was faithful to the Father’s will. His life glorified the Father and the Father in turn glorifies the Son. The words of Jesus at the moment of death show unquestioned trust and confidence. Jesus died, not with resurrection as already experienced but with the firm conviction that He would be resurrected by His Father after His death. His absolute certainty with regard to resurrection and glory was the result of a confident trust in His Father. Only with God’s grace can we surrender ourselves completely to Him and put our trust in Him.

                   The final word of Jesus sums up what faith should be – personal intimacy with a personal God. He is Our Heavenly Father, Our Personal Father. It may often happen that God seems remote from us. It is not because God is hidden but because we are distracted by the things of the world. As we progress in life’s journey, we should live our life in the Father’s presence. We should note that the first and last words of Jesus from the cross begin with “Father”. Each day of our life is secure only when we are bound by prayer to the Father. We, too should have the prayerful and committed faith like that of Jesus, only then can we see death as an entry into the fullness of life. From the last word of Jesus we learn that at death, life does not end; it changes. Jesus is eternally united to the Father and the Holy Spirit in a communion of love. Our Heavenly Father will welcome us with open arms when we die and we travel to heaven to be with Him. When we die, we give our spirit up into the living and loving hands of God. We simply don’t become dust and ashes. Rather, we commit our spirit into the loving care of God. Jesus’ action of commending His soul to His Father is a reminder for us that death does not bring about an absolute end, but rather a new beginning in the hands of the Father. So we must be prepared for our death by a prayerful life and by bowing down always to the will of the Father, like Jesus.

There is also a depth of meaning in Jesus’ last words. Jesus Himself said, “I laid down my life that I might take it again. No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” John 10:17-18. Jesus died not as we die when our time is come – not because He was compelled and could not help dying but voluntarily and of His own free will. The death of Jesus was a conscious act of giving. Jesus’ death was not simply a result of being murdered by the Jews or the Roman soldiers. No man took Jesus’ life from Him; He laid it down of His own will. Hanging on the cross, breathing must have been agonizingly difficult. Jesus must have taken one last great breath, with head uplifted and uttered the final words and then gave His life for us. Jesus says earlier, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death” Mat 26:38 suggesting that the mental agony in the Garden of Gethsemane almost killed Him. In the physical agony of crucifixion, it was only His will to live which kept Him alive. He was therefore able to keep Himself alive until He had said what He wanted to and then He was able to consciously give His life for our sins, to offer Himself as a sacrifice once and for all.

                         Our Lord’s words provide a lesson to all true followers of Christ. They show us the manner in which death should be met by all God’s children. They show an example which every believer should follow. Like Jesus, we should not be afraid to confront death. We should think of death as an enemy who can hurt our bodies only for a little while but afterwards can do nothing more. So we should wait for death with calmness and patience and believe that after death our soul will be safely in God’s hands. This was the mind of dying Stephen when he said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” Acts 7:59. This was also the mind of Paul when the time of his departure was at hand. He says, “I know whom I have believed and persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day”. (Acts 7:59, 2 Tim 1:12)

                     Another reason why Jesus entrusted His Spirit to the Father was to later send the Holy Spirit into the souls of believers. His intention of sending the Spirit is announced at the Last Supper. Jesus says to His disciples in St. John’s Gospel, “I am going to Him who sent me; I tell you the truth; it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go I will send Him to you” John 16:7. The Lord knows that mankind needs one more thing to reach fulfilment. It needs the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ who teaches mankind to call “Abba”.

Now as Jesus, the new Adam, breathes His last breath, the Father receives it and with the Son will breathe it into the hearts of every believer. In order to receive this gift we need to commend our souls to God daily, so that He may remove the stain of sin which separates us from Him. So our final prayer every evening should be Christ’s last word from the cross, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” Luke 23:46. It is only then, that we can receive the Holy Spirit that Jesus breathed out from the cross, so that we may, proclaim His death and resurrection, until He comes in glory.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You always placed complete trust and confidence in Your Father remaining obedient to Your Father’s will and offering Yourself as a perfect sacrifice for our sins on the cross. Give us also the grace to surrender our lives completely to Your Father and remain obedient to Him during our life here on earth so that when the time comes for us to depart to our eternal home, we, too will have the confidence to entrust our spirit into the loving hands of Our heavenly Father, forever. Amen.

              We have seen the meaning and mystery of the cross. When standing before the cross this Good Friday, let us not forget that Jesus Christ poured out His blood for us to transform us into something beyond ourselves. We are called to a new life. The kingdom of God is begun in Christ. God remains at work making us His chosen people. Our sins have been cancelled making us possible to live lives guided by God’s Spirit so that we become God’s witnesses to the world. Jesus says from the cross, “it is finished” and at the same time He is signaling to us His disciples to continue the work that He had begun on the cross. The cross opened the way into God’s love and we as Jesus’ disciples have been appointed by God to bring that love into the world that still needs healing. We too, should thirst to give ourselves to Christ, Our Saviour and Our Lord and respond to Our Lord’s call to go out and make disciples of all nations. We are also called to pick up our cross and meet Our Lord and Saviour in a new beginning. 

REFLECTIONS/ARTICLES

6. “It is finished” (John 19:30)

                 It is John who gives us Jesus’ sixth word from the cross: “It is finished” Jn 19:30. Having announced His thirst and received the vinegar soaked sponge John tells us: “After Jesus had taken the vinegar He said: “It is finished.” And bowing his head “he gave up his spirit” Jn 19: 30. This statement can be interpreted as the announcement of the end of the earthly life of Jesus, in anticipation of the Resurrection. On the cross, now His life is coming to a close, Christ knows that all has been completed. “It is finished!” He cries out before He dies. This sentence needs to be translated as “it is accomplished”. The plan of God for Jesus was for Him to be perfectly obedient unto death and Jesus accomplished that plan. Jesus showed His love for us by dying on the cross that we might live. This sentence, “it is finished” is a victorious and triumphant statement. For thirty-three years, the Son of God was present on earth as a man. For the last three years of His life, He preached the Gospel, healed the sick, gathered disciples, and performed miraculous deeds. It is clear that Jesus was sent to do to the will of the Father. As He hung upon the cross and gave up His spirit, He completed the Father’s will.

                     At the Last Supper, Jesus lifts His eyes up to heaven and prays to His Father. “…. this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do” Jn 17:4. In the Gospel according to John, Christ constantly talks about Himself in terms of His relationship with us: “I am the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry” (John 6:35), “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12), “I am the Gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture” (John 10:9), “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:11), “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live” (John 11:25), “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6), “I am the True Vine, and My Father is the vine grower” (John 15:1). Jesus’ death makes those relationships complete, brings His work to completion and He cries out, “It is finished”. He totally identifies with us in life and in death. Death shows us how completely His identification with us is. His relationship with us has not come to an end. It has come to its God-planned fulfillment. “It is finished” is the triumphant cry that what Jesus Christ has come to do has been done. All is accomplished, completed and fulfilled.

An example in the Bible of “it is accomplished” is the words of Apostle Paul, as he came to the close of his life. He wrote similar words in 2 Tim 4:7, “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race: I have kept the faith. Henceforth is laid for me a crown of righteousness”. So as Paul came to the end of his life, these were his feelings. He was feeling victorious about his life, not that his life was perfect but that he had done God’s will in his life. This verse describes Paul’s definition of success: keeping the faith. Holding on to the truth and not giving up under pressure. Paul knew that he had been faithful unto death. But he was never perfect or without sin. God wants us to finish the race that he has given us to run, to do the work that he had given us to us while we are here on earth. Fidelity to the will of the Father is what Jesus practised throughout His entire life, ending with His death on the cross.

                     There is also a deeper meaning in Jesus’ expression, “it is finished”. It also means that the reign of sin has ended. We know that by the sin of our first parents, we have been plunged headlong into sin and death. A great abyss has opened between God and mankind. The human race cannot bridge the gap on its own. Now the sin of our first parents is canceled by the obedience of God’s own Son, Jesus submitting Himself to death on the cross. St. Paul says in his letter to the Romans: “Just as by the disobedience of one man many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man many will be justified… Just as sin reigned wherever there was death, so grace will reign to bring eternal life thanks to the righteousness that came through Jesus Christ our Lord” Rom 5: 19-21.

               This action is foretold by the Prophet Jeremiah. “Behold the days are coming says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31: 31-33). Jesus is the new covenant in person. By His fidelity on the cross, the new covenant made between God and man is sealed in His blood and it is unbreakable. Jesus makes Himself a living sacrifice of love for the reconciliation of the world. He totally offered Himself to the Father out of love for mankind and pays fully for mankind’s sins. So every time the sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated, we recall God’s covenant with man. For Jesus on the cross, the act of redemption is finished.

                 Just as it is with Jesus, we also finish the work that we have been born into this world to accomplish only at the moment of our death. If we could also imitate Jesus in accomplishing whatever God asks us with dedication similar to Jesus, then we can also say and repeat the words of Jesus, “it is finished”, with a sense of satisfaction. In this sense, Jesus’ word, “it is finished”, is a cry of victory, a triumphant exultation over the defeat of evil.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You won a victory over sin and death when You obeyed the will of Your Father and died on the cross for our sins. Only then did You breathe out that everything was accomplished according to the will of Your Father. May we too, finish the work for which we were sent into the world so that at the end of our lives here on earth we, too can say with satisfaction that our work here is finished and then join You in our heavenly abode to enjoy life everlasting with You. Amen.

To be continued ……….

REFLECTIONS/ARTICLES

 5.  I thirst ( John 19:28)

The words “I thirst” appear only in the Gospel of John and is the shortest of all the words of Calvary. It stands as two words in  English but in the Greek it is only one. With this word, Jesus shares with us His intense physical pain. Jesus who is the source of  “ living water ”now cries out with thirst. The torment of thirst is one of the worst a crucified person had to undergo. The suffering Jesus underwent, beginning the night before with his agony in the garden, when his sweat fell as drops of blood, would have increased his dehydration even more. So, Jesus was inevitably thirsty. His anguish had been so intense that He had sweated drops of blood. This had made His skin very sensitive that He felt the pain more acutely. Jesus experienced the enormity of human pain. Yet He had not complained at all about His physical condition through all the hours of suffering. Now Jesus at last cries out at the last moments of His life, “ I thirst. ” This is the only reference He made to all the sufferings He went. When Jesus hung on the cross, He knew that His work had been completed, He knew that He had borne the sins of the human race and having done what God had sent Him to do – only then does He make a comment about His own intense suffering.

        Earlier Jesus had rejected wine mixed with gall, that would ease his suffering and hasten death. Now, He suffered from immense thirst so the soldiers around Him responded by putting a vinegar – soaked sponge on a stalk of hyssop and placed it on His lips and Jesus took some of it thus fulfilling the prophecy in Ps 69 : 21, “ They gave me poison for food and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” Though He was Lord of all, He had so fully taken upon Himself the form of a servant and suffered the pains which belong to manhood. So when we are in pain or suffering a depression of spirit we should remember that Our Lord understands it all, for He has had practical, personal experience of it. We are never deserted by Our Lord at any time in our lives.

           These last words of Jesus also echoes Isaiah 55:1, “Come all of you who thirst.” Everyone has a thirst for God. It is written in Psalm 41, “As the deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God, When shall I come and behold the face of God?” (Psalm 41:1-2). The Gospels teach us that Jesus Christ is this water for men’s souls. In the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4, Jesus asks the Samaritan woman for a drink. When she questions Him as to why He is asking her to do such a thing, Jesus responds to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. The water that I shall give shall become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John10-14) Later on in St. John’s Gospel, Jesus proclaims: “ If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” for he who believes, “out of his heart shall flow rivers of living waters.” (John 7:37-38) Jesus makes it clear that only He can quench the thirst of others. So human beings possess a thirst not only for water, but also for the grace of God’s presence. We fail to realize that it is we who have distanced ourselves from God and not He who remains distant from us. He seeks us like a shepherd who seeks a lost sheep. But it is the consciousness of our sins which create a barrier between us and God. God thirsts for the souls of even the worst sinners.

          Jesus’ physical thirst was not the only reason for His calling out, “ I thirst.” We also understand Jesus’ thirst on the cross as a thirst for souls, for all mankind. He thirsts to be united with men. Jesus thirsts on the cross for the sake of the salvation of mankind. His blood was shed to redeem us from slavery to sin. The most pure, spotless Lamb of God has given Himself up as a sacrifice for us once and for all. So at every celebration of the Eucharist, we are also joined to Christ’s sacrifice. It is Christ who first asks for a drink to the Samaritan woman that He may then offer us living water. It is Christ who thirsts that we may thirst for Him, the Passover Lamb.

         Later, Jesus reveals the deeper truth about this “living water”. “The living water” which wells up to eternal life is His own flesh and blood : the Eucharist. “ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in Him”. (John 6 :54 -56) It is Christ who thirstily loved us to the end. This is the message of Good Friday. When we stand before the cross today, we see how God has thirsted for us, how He has selflessly and lovingly given Himself up for us and willingly endured the death of a common criminal on a cross. What do we thirst for? Our own concerns and needs or our petty desires? Or do we thirst for Christ, as the deer pants for the water (Psalm 42:1). If we are to satiate the thirst of Jesus on the Cross, we must pray for a pure heart to hear Him and respond to Him, to set aside sin and struggle against selfishness and pride.

           There is one person who had responded to Jesus’ last words on the cross. It became the sole mission of Mother Teresa of Calcutta in life to ease Christ’s thirst. In every one of her homes around the world, beneath the crucifix and above the Tabernacle are the words, “I thirst”. These two words became the motto for the Missionaries of Charity. She wants to make it clear that the crucifixion of Jesus is meaningless unless we reach out to the poorest of the poor, whom we are obliged to help. So the love which led her to reach out to the forgotten and the rejected was her response to Jesus’ words from the cross, “I thirst”.

Prayer

Today, let’s pause for a moment and see how we can reach out in some way to our fellow-men who need us – people who are sad and lonely and who are in need of encouragement from us or can we reach out a hand to the poor and the needy? Lord Jesus,  help us make a difference in someone’s life today by reaching out to them by our kindness and generosity. This way we can seek to quench the thirst of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

To be continued ……...

REFLECTIONS/ARTICLES

4. “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46, Mk 15:34)

                        This is the only expression of Jesus in the Gospels of Mathew and Mark. Both gospels states that it was in the 9^th hour, after three hours of darkness that Jesus cried out this fourth word. The 9^th hour was 3 o’clock in Palestine. One is struck by the anguished tone of this expression when compared to the first three words of Jesus. This cry is from the painful heart of the human Jesus who must have felt deserted by His Father and the Holy Spirit, not to mention His earthly companions the apostles. As if to emphasize His loneliness, Mark even has loved ones “looking from afar”, not close to Him as in the Gospel of John. Jesus feels separated from His Father. He is now all alone, and He must face death by Himself.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        In this statement, Jesus is the most human. He shares with us His emotional pain, that God has abandoned Him. This is what all human beings feel sometimes during their lives. So did Jesus. This happens in life when tragedies happen to us personally. For example from the Old Testament King David wrote the famous words in Psalm 22: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” King David had these feelings in this heart that God had forsaken him because of the personal tragedies in his life. King David felt this way because King Saul was trying to kill him and his enemies were trying to kill him. His oldest son was plotting against him. So David was feeling discouraged when He wrote the Psalm 22. Similarly it is with Job in the Old Testament. Job experienced many personal tragedies. He lost his farms, animals, his children and everything. He felt that God had abandoned him and he was angry with God. King David and Job felt that God had deserted them. Those feelings were normal. People sometimes feel that they are deserted by God but God still loved them.

                     It was 3 o’clock on that Friday afternoon and Jesus was coming closer to His death. The Bible tells us that Jesus cried out with a shout: the Greek tells us: “Eloi, Eloi lama sabachthani”. The words are in Aramaic, His native tongue – “My strong God, My strong God, why have you abandoned me?” Jesus is about to be engulfed in the raging sea of sin. Evil triumphs, as Jesus admits: “But this is your hour” Luke 22:53. Jesus expresses His feelings of abandonment as God placed the sins of the world on Him and because of that God had to “turn away” from Jesus. As Jesus was feeling the weight of sin, He was experiencing a separation from God for the only time in all eternity. At this moment the Father placed on Him the sins of humanity to be paid as He was about to die. The burden of all the sins of humanity for a moment overwhelms the humanity of Jesus. Is 59:2 states that our sins separate us from God. At this moment Jesus could empathize with all of us when we feel separated from because of our sins and guilt.

                     When the Son of God, Jesus came to earth as a human being, He was fully human and fully divine as well. For this reason, all the human sufferings that a human being experiences Jesus also experienced. The Bible attest to this fact, “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.” So Jesus experienced this ultimate loneliness, helplessness and alienation. He took all our human sufferings upon Himself and nailed them to the cross. Isaiah says, “It was our suffering he bore, our sorrows he carried ….On him lies a punishment that brings us peace, and through his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:4-5  In accepting abandonment, forsakenness and alienation on the cross, Jesus won for all the abandoned and forsaken people the grace of hope and the defeat of despair.

               During His entire adult life, Jesus had an intimate relationship with God as His Father. Even as a child of twelve, Jesus always spoke of God as “Father”. Suddenly, while suffering the agony and fatigue of crucifixion, Jesus could no longer feel that wonderful heavenly presence. The familiarity of the “Father” seems to have gone in His feeling of total abandonment. Yet, the trust is still there in His use of the word “My”. Jesus trusted His Father even in His darkest hour. He was not abandoned or forgotten but He had to suffer before claiming His victory. Even with the sins of the world on His back, Jesus was not deserted by God, for He carried the promise of hope and fulfillment with Him. Where there is trust, there can be no despair. So God is still present and still His Father. We find Jesus clinging to God with all His power and at the same time shouting His inner feelings up to God.

                 But these are not His last words. His words do not end with depression and emotional exhaustion. For King David the 22^nd Psalm was not His last word. He also wrote the Psalm, “The Lord is my Shepherd” and Job also at the end of the book ends on a positive note, “I know that my redeemer lives” Job 19:25. So also it is with Jesus. These were not His last words. His last words were, “Into your hands I commend my spirit” Luke 23:46. Easter always triumphs over Good Friday. God’s healing always triumphs over tragedy. God can and will heal us of every disaster that befalls us.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You faced death all by Yourself feeling separated from Your heavenly Father and forsaken by Your earthly companions, all because of our sins. When You accepted this abandonment and alienation on the cross, You gave new hope for all the people who are in despair and in suffering. Just as You were clinging to Your Father even in Your darkest hour, help us also to not lose sight of You in times our deepest pain and suffering. Amen.

          

                                                                                                  To be continued ………

REFLECTIONS/ARTICLES

3. “Woman, behold your son”. To the disciple, “behold your mother”. (Luke 19:26-27)

                     Jesus was still compassionately thinking of others even when hanging on the cross. Jesus preached His most powerful sermon from the cross. The first three statements from the cross reveal an enormous and incredible love for others. In the third statement, Jesus was concentrating on the needs of His mother and best friend. Jesus was telling both of them to take care of one and another in the future when He had physically gone from them. His focus is not on His own pain but the pain of His mother and His closest friend, John. He asks the two of them to take care of each other and make a new family. He is caring and compassionate for His mother and best friend.

                      Mary was with Jesus at the foot of the cross. This would have been the most painful experience of her life to see and experience His crucifixion on the cross. Mary was with Jesus at the beginning of His ministry in Cana and now at the end of His public ministry at the foot of the cross. What sorrow must fill her heart to see her son mocked, tortured and now crucified? Once again, a sword pierces Mary’s soul, the sword predicted by Simeon at the temple in Luke 2:35. Jesus’ pain was her pain. That is the way it is with mothers. The mother totally feels the pain of her child and Mary totally felt the excruciating pain of Jesus. Mary’s best friends and sister were there with her but their love and compassion did not diminish the sadness and agony she was feeling. So Mary is a model of mothering for all of us. Every child needs a great mother. As the book of Proverbs says a fine mother is more valuable than jewels. One of the last acts of Jesus was to care for His mother by entrusting her future to His faithful friend and apostle, John.

                    As Our Lord was hanging on the cross He united His mother with all Christians. By referring to His mother as “woman”, He distinguished her from just being His own mother and gave her to all of us. The night before, Jesus willed His body to us at the Last Supper. At the foot of the cross, He willed us His mother too. Here Jesus is universalizing and making Mary a model for all His disciples. It is because Mary faultlessly did the father’s will that Jesus invites us to take Mary into our lives as model by which we are to live. Mary’s response to God was to say yes to Him without thought to earthly concerns and so she gave birth to the savior and in this way became our mother. So we too should pray that our response may also be, “Be it done unto me according to thy word” Luke 1:38.

                     John, the disciple whom Jesus loved was also at the foot of the cross. Jesus, even in the midst of excruciating pain was thinking of the two people who loved Him most during His earthly life: His mother and His best friend. He asked them to take care of each other in the future and they did that. John tells us in His Gospel that He took Mary into His own home and cared for her from that day on. There is a lesson for us in the unquestioning obedience of John in taking Mary into his home. It gives us the example to respond instantly and without question to whatever Jesus asks of us. This too, is a lesson Mary teaches. At the wedding feast of Cana, after Mary had acquainted Jesus with the fact that the wine was over, she speaks the words, “do whatever he tell you” John 2:5. She speaking those same words to us. If our ordinary lives have to be transformed into lives bearing fruit for others, it will only be through doing whatever the Son of God tells. Jesus taught us to love even when we are dying. Even in the midst of dying, He was still thinking of others.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You gave us Your mother while You hung on the cross and she was a person who had humbly submitted to God’s will. She is a model of faith and hope for us. She did not despair in her sorrow and loss when You were nailed to the cross, since her faith and hope were sustained by her trust in God and the love she had for You. When the apostles fled, she stood at the cross and set us a great example, enduring sorrow and pain with faith and hope in God. May we too have the same faith and trust in God which enables us to face the trials and difficulties that come our way. Amen.

                                                                                                                                                   To be continued ……..

REFLECTIONS/ARTICLES

2. Truly, I say to you, you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43)

 Now it is not just the religious leaders or the soldiers that mock Jesus, but even one of the criminals. But the criminal on the right speaks up for Jesus, explaining that the two criminals are receiving their just punishment and then pointing to Jesus says, “This man has done nothing wrong” Luke 23:41. Then turning to Jesus, he says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” Luke 23:42. What wonderful faith this repentant sinner had in Jesus far more than the doubting Thomas, one of His apostles!Ignoring His own suffering, Jesus mercifully responds with His second phrase. The second phrase again is about forgiveness, this time directed to a sinner. Jesus shows His divinity by opening heaven for a repentant sinner – such generosity to a man who only asked to be remembered.

                     The good thief had no clear idea about the depth of meaning in what he was saying. He simply committed himself to the person, Jesus, dying next to him, whose actions and forgiving words to the people persecuting Him must have moved him. This was why Jesus’ response is directed personally to him, a person who was also in terrible agony as He was. But the good thief had the insight to know that he was suffering unjustly. The man when he turned to Jesus, was therefore promised the glory of salvation. Salvation is now available through Jesus from His cross only if we turn to Him and commit ourselves to Him.

                     The good thief admits to his mocking companion, the other thief crucified with Jesus, “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Luke 23:41. He not only admits his sins but takes responsibility for his actions and accepts the just punishment that goes with it thus showing a change of heart. This gives power and strength to the request that follows, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” Luke 23:42. This is also the only passage in the Bible that anyone addresses the Lord saying simply “Jesus”. In other places it is “Jesus, Lord” or “Jesus, Son of David”. But the intimacy of dying the same breath as Jesus, on a cross draws the good thief closer to Jesus in trust that makes no demand, saying simply “remember me”. He trusts that the memory of him will urge Jesus to do whatever is best for him.

                   Jesus and the good thief shared an intimacy which we can only hope to aspire: to have Christ alongside us in our hour of need and we hope to hear those words from Jesus, available to all who have the courage to ask Him: “you will be with me in paradise” Luke 23:43. We should pray for the faith to see Jesus alongside us, sharing our own suffering and we should also pray that we too should experience the same intimacy that the good thief shared with Christ.

                 By “today” Jesus means immediately and not in a hundred years. So when we die we too will be in paradise immediately. “You” also means you and me. Christ’s promise is not only towards the thief on the cross but directed towards you and me as well. We need to realise that God’s gift is for you personally. We will be with Christ in paradise with pure grace, with God’s presence, which is pure love. We will see the face and glory of God. There will be no war or starvation nor evil for all these things will be destroyed and our hearts will be filled with peace and thanksgiving. Today Jesus speaks to you. Today you will be with me in paradise. What a grand promise of God!

Prayer

Lord Jesus, give us a humble and broken heart that we may repent for all our sins and return to You wholeheartedly. Just as the good thief turned to you in trust and was promised salvation immediately, help us also to turn towards You and be accepted into Your fold as the lost sheep which had returned to its Master. May we enjoy a closer relationship with You, Lord from now on and commit our lives to You, today. Amen.

                                                                                                                                          To be continued ……..

REFLECTIONS/ARTICLES

                 Lent is a time that the Universal Church reflects on Christ’s Passion and Death in an intensely focused way. After Jesus was nailed to the cross, He spoke seven short expressions. These statements are now commonly referred to as the “The Seven Last Words.” The final words of a dying person are always most precious. So the last words of Jesus are surely the most valuable. Seven is a favoured number in the Bible. The number seven represents fullness, completeness and wholeness. Seven represents the fullness of God’s love. As Jesus was dying on the cross, we think of the words, “No greater love is this than a man lay down his life for his friends” John 15:13. The cross is the primary symbol of the Christian faith because it symbolises the fullness of God’s love. Not a bone of Jesus’ body was broken on the cross and not a word from Jesus on the cross was lost. We have all of Jesus’ seven words from the cross and His seven words represent the fullness of His love.

            As we contemplate the Passion and Death of Jesus this season, we must remember that these words, although spoken nearly 2,000 years ago at Calvary, were meant for every generation. Nothing our Lord said or did was without meaning. So let’s prepare our hearts this Lenten season by reflecting on the Seven Last Words of Christ. There are seven expressions uttered by Jesus during His crucifixion, gathered from the 4 gospels. The traditional order of the sayings is:

1. Father forgive them for they know not what they do. ( Luke 23:34)

2. Truly, I say to you, you will be with me in paradise ( Luke 23:43)

3.Woman, behold your son; behold your mother ( Luke 19:26-27)

4. My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? ( Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34)

5. I thirst ( John 19:28)

6. It is finished ( John 19:30)

7. Father into your hands I commend my spirit (Luke 23:46)

Traditionally, these seven sayings are called words of 1) Forgiveness 2) Salvation 3) Relationship 4) Abandonment 5) Distress 6) Triumph 7) Reunion.

           When Jesus spoke His seven last sentences from the cross He was in enormous physical pain, the worst human pain imaginable. The Roman soldiers all expected Jesus to shout out, cursing and swearing. Instead we hear nothing of this. Jesus did not curse His tormentors, the soldiers nor did He curse the religious leaders or onlookers. Instead of cursing we hear the seven last words of Jesus.

 “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34)

              These are Jesus’ first words from the cross. What powerful words. Often, we do things which are wrong and we don’t see the full consequences of what we have done. So it was on that Good Friday when Jesus was being crucified. The soldiers thought that they were doing a job. They didn’t really understand that they were killing the Son of God. The religious leaders thought that they were framing another religious fanatic. They didn’t really believe that they were planning to kill the very Son of God who had come to earth as a human being in the flesh. At the moment, Jesus sees them blind to their sins.

              The first word from the Cross is “Father”. Jesus’ choice of the word, “Father” shows His closeness to God. Jesus was the first person in the Bible to use the word “Father” to address God, to begin His prayer life. Our prayer life is to be the same. We, too should pray intimately to God in all circumstances especially when we are in pain. When we are in our worst pain, that is when we should pray the most and call to God to help us handle the situation we are in. Jesus did the same.

             The second word from the cross is the word “forgive”. Rather than calling on God to punish the people who were crucifying Him, Jesus’ heart was full of compassion for them rather than rage. The normal thing was to swear or use foul language at the tormentors but Jesus’ heart was just the opposite. Jesus called out to God to forgive His tormentors rather than punish them. Forgiveness of people killing you is not easy. It is not easy to love our enemies. But that is what Jesus did from the Cross. Jesus loved those who were hurting and killing Him. To love our enemies is a miracle from God.

                The word forgiveness also implies “to let go”. When Jesus forgives our sins, He lets go of our sins. The only way we as human beings ever become free in life is to let go –to let go of the way our parents have hurt us in childhood, to let go of the hurts inflicted by our spouse in our married life, to let go of all the mistakes we have made. The only way to freedom is to let go of all the hatred and anger about wrongs we have done in the past or wrongs others have done to us. From the Cross, God lets go of our sins. Jesus is looking up to God to forgive these people, to let go of their sins.

                  Right up to His final hours on earth, Jesus preaches forgiveness. His whole ministry is to seek reconciliation between God and man, to set the relationship between God and man right which had gone wrong after the sin of Adam and Eve. The way to that reconciliation is forgiveness. He teaches forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”, (Matt 6:12). When asked by Peter, how many times should we forgive someone, Jesus seventy times seven (Matt 18:21-22)

                  At the Last Supper Jesus explains His crucifixion to His apostles when He tells them to drink of the cup: “Drink of it, all of you: for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” Mt 26: 27-28. He forgives the paralytic at Capernaum (Mk 2:5) and the adulteress caught in the act and about to be stoned (Jn 8:1-11). And even following His resurrection His first act is to commission His disciples to forgive: “Receive the holy spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are retained” (Jn 20:22-23). We pray that we, too may be forgiven, for our manifold sins. Forgiveness is part of God’s grace and is freely given if we have the courage to ask for it.

                   The third word from the cross is the word “them”. “Them” refers to the soldiers who have whipped, mocked and nailed him to the cross. “Them” also refers to all the religious leaders who have falsely accused Him. Jesus asks His Father to forgive His enemies Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, Pontius Pilate and Herod and the soldiers who have nailed Him to the cross. “Them” also refers to His apostles and companions who have deserted Him, to Peter who has denied Him three times, to the fickle crowd who only days before praised Him on His entrance to Jerusalem and then days later chose Him over Barabbas to be crucified. “Them” also refers to you and me as well. We too are in need of God’s forgiveness. So often we don’t have time for God. We don’t pray as we should, we don’t love as we should. We live a far too busy life, being too busy for God or to offer love to anyone. So we too should pray, father forgive us for we do not know what we do.

                  That day on the cross, even though the crowd below did not confess or repent or even admit guilt, Jesus called out to God, “Father forgive them”. Jesus’ forgiveness and love from the cross was pure grace, was freely given, as a gift to people who did not deserve the gift and so it is with us. It is pure grace for you and me and the world.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You taught us to forgive our enemies from the cross. Lord, help us to let go of all the hatred and anger we have against others, even those whom we find difficult to forgive. We too, are in need of Your forgiveness, Lord. Give us a truly repentant heart that we may turn to You and seek Your forgiveness with all our hearts. Amen.

                                                                                                               To be continued ……..

REFLECTIONS/ARTICLES

                       Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent for Catholics. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Ash Wednesday always falls 46 days before Easter. While it is not a Holy Day of Obligation, all Roman Catholics are encouraged to attend Mass on this day in order to mark the beginning of the Lenten season. The ashes we receive on our forehead in the shape of a cross serve as an outward sign of our sinfulness and need for penance. The ashes also symbolize our mortality, a reminder that one day we will die and our bodies will return to dust. Following the example of the Ninevites, who did penance in sackcloth and ashes, our foreheads are marked with ashes to humble our hearts and remind us that life passes away on Earth. We remember this when we are told, “Remember, Man is dust, and unto dust you shall return” which is modeled after God’s address to Adam in Genesis 3:19 “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return,” Abraham’s confession, “I am nothing but dust and ashes” Genesis 18:27 and also Job 34:15, Psalms 90:3, 104:29 and Ecclesiastes 3:20. It is thus a reminder of our mortality and our need to repent before this life is over and we face our Judge.

                 Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of blessing ashes made from palm branches blessed on the previous year’s Palm Sunday, and placing them on the heads of participants. It was on Palm Sunday that people rejoiced at Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem little realizing that He was going to die for their sins. By using the palms from Palm Sunday, we remind ourselves that we must not only rejoice at Jesus’ coming but also express regret at the fact that our sins made it necessary for Him to die for us in order to save us from hell. The tradition of receiving ashes has its origins in the Old Testament, where sinners performed acts of public penance. It was Pope Urban II who in the 11th century recommended that all Catholics take part in the practice of receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday. In the 12th century it became customary that the ashes used on Ash Wednesday were made by burning the previous year’s palm branches.

                        Ashes are a biblical symbol of mourning and penance made sacramental by the blessing of the Church, and they help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice. As James said: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” James 4:10. While the ashes symbolize penance and contrition, they are also a reminder that God is gracious and merciful to those who call on Him with repentant hearts. His Divine mercy is of utmost importance during the season of Lent, and the Church calls on us to seek that mercy during the entire Lenten season with reflection, prayer and penance.

                      The practice of fasting, wearing sackcloth and putting dust and ashes on one’s head was part of the Jewish custom in the Old Testament to express sorrow and penance for sins. There are numerous examples of people putting dust and ashes on their foreheads found in several books of the Bible. Ashes were used in ancient times to express grief. When Tamar was raped by her half-brother, “she sprinkled ashes on her head, tore her robe, and with her face buried in her hands went away crying” 2 Samuel 13:19. The gesture was also used to express sorrow for sins and faults. In Job 42:3–6, Job tells God: “I spoke of things I did not understand, too wonderful for me to know. My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I retract all I have said, and in dust and ashes I repent.” The prophet Jeremiah calls for repentance by saying: “O my people! wrap yourself in sackcloth and roll in ashes” Jeremiah 6:26. The prophet Daniel recounted pleading to God, “I turned to the Lord and begged him. I pleaded with prayers and fasting. I did penance, I put on sackcloth and sat on an ash pile.” Daniel 9:3. Just prior to the New Testament period, the rebels fighting for Jewish independence, the Maccabees, prepared for battle using ashes: “They fasted that day, put on sackcloth, sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their garments.” 1 Maccabees 3:47. Other examples of the practice are found in the books of Numbers 19:9, 19:17, Jonah 3:6, Esther 4:1, and Hebrews 9:13. Jesus Himself is quoted as speaking of the practice in Matthew 11:21 and Luke 10:13, “If the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago (sitting) in sackcloth and ashes” Matthew 11:2. While we no longer wear sackcloth or sit in dust and ashes, the customs of fasting and putting ashes on one’s forehead as a sign of mourning and penance have survived to this day. Christians continue the practice of using ashes as an external sign of repentance.

                         In the Catholic Church, Ash Wednesday is observed with fasting, abstinence from meat, and repentance – a day of contemplating one’s transgressions. It is a wonderful opportunity to begin our lives anew, and also serves as a good reminder of how we should behave during the whole Lenten season. The concept of penance is an integral part of the Ash Wednesday custom. By wearing the ashes, we are reminded of our sinfulness and we should seek to make amends for our sinfulness. The Church provides us one way to do this through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. During this period, we also reflect quietly on our personal relationship with God, and set some time aside to grow in holiness. It is a time for us to remember that we are sinners and that Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins. As Lent begins, we should set specific spiritual goals we should reach before Easter and decide how we should pursue them—for instance, by going to daily Mass when we can and receiving the Sacrament of Confession more often. Marking the beginning of the Lenten season, Ash Wednesday is also a call for us to take stock of our spiritual lives.