Vol. 37 No. 16
FEBRUARY 17, 2010
(Cycle C)
ASH WEDNESDAY
Your Father who sees
in secret will reward you
ENTRANCE ANTIPHON
Lord, you are merciful to all and hate nothing you have created. You overlook
the sins of men to bring them to repentance. You are the Lord, our God.
INTRODUCTION
Today we begin the holy season of Lent which is a period of preparation for the
celebration of Easter. Each year on Ash Wednesday, we mark our foreheads with
ashes. We do this for two reasons: First, ashes are a sign of repentance. We say
that we are sorry for our sins and will do penance for them during Lent. Second,
ashes are a sign of our mortality. We say that we have to die and give an
account of our lives to God. This leaves each of us to decide what personal
penance we will perform during Lent.
(The Penitential Rite and
the Gloria are omitted.)
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray: Lord, protect us in our struggle against evil. As we begin the
discipline of Lent, make this season holy by our self-denial. We ask this...
FIRST READING
(Through the prophet Joel the merciful and loving God invites all people to
return to Him with a repentant heart.)
A reading from the Book of Joel (2:1218)
“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. Who knows whether he will
not turn and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, a cereal offering and a
drink offering for the Lord, your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a
fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation;
assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the
bridegroom leave his room, and bride her chamber. Between the vestibule and the
altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, “Spare thy
people, O Lord, and make not thy heritage a reproach, a byword among the
nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ” Then the
Lord became jealous for his land, and had pity on his people.
This is the Word of the Lord
PSALM (50)
Response: Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness. In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. R./
My offences 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. R./
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. R./
Give me again the joy of your help; with a spirit of fervour sustain me, O Lord,
open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise. R./
SECOND READING
(St Paul appeals to the Christians of Corinth: be reconciled to God and do not
accept the grace of God in vain.)
A reading from the Second Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians (5:20–6:2)
Brethren, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We
beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him
to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of
God. Working together with him-, then, we entreat you not to accept the grace of
God in vain. For he says, “At the acceptable time I have listened to you, and
helped you on the day of salvation.” Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold,
now is the day of salvation.
This is the Word of the Lord
ACCLAMATION (Ps 50:12,14)
A pure heart create for me, O God, and give me again the joy of your help.
GOSPEL
(The practices of piety done for human considerations will lose their reward
from the heavenly Father. God will reward us only when our practices are genuine
and penitential.)
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Matthew (6:1-6,16-18)
Jesus said to His disciples: “Beware of practising your piety before men in
order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who
is in heaven.
Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in
the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say
to you, they have their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left
hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and
your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand
and pray in the synagogues and at the street-corners, that they may be seen by
men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you pray, go into
your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your
Father who sees in secret will reward you.
And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure
their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they
have their reward. But when you fast, anoint you head and wash your face, that
your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and
your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord
(The Ashes are blessed and distributed after the Gospel and the Homily.)
BLESSING AND GIVING OF ASHES
Cel: Dear friends in Christ, let us ask our Father to bless these ashes which we
will use as the mark of our repentance. (Pause for silent prayer.)
Lord, bless these ashes + by which we show that we are dust. Pardon our sins and
keep us faithful to the discipline of Lent, for you do not want sinners to die
but to live with the risen Christ, who reigns with you for ever and ever.
(Sprinkles the ashes with holy water).
(The profession of faith is not said.)
PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL
Cel: Dear brothers and sisters, in this holy season of Lent, the merciful and
loving Father has once again given us a chance to repent and return to Him. Let
us acknowledge our sinfulness and accept His forgiving love. Now, with faith and
hope, let us pray to Him, saying:
Response: Father, have mercy on us, sinners, and renew our lives.
1. We pray for our Pope and all pastors and lay-leaders of the Church: during
Lent, may they become models of reconciliation and repentance. R./
2. We pray for all who are sincerely struggling to break the bonds of sinful
habits: send your Holy Spirit upon them and grant them courage and strength in
their efforts. R./
3. We pray for all religious men and women: that through their community life
and apostolate they may sanctify themselves and help others to know the
salvation brought by Christ. R./
4. We pray for all believers in Christ: by the power of your Spirit, may all
Christians live a life of faith, integrity and commitment. R./
5. We pray for leaders of all religions: that they may shun hypocrisy,
falsehood, selfishness and greed; make them aware of their responsibility to
society and help them to be genuine spiritual guides and role-models. R./
(Pray for local and personal needs)
Cel: Ever-loving Father, you correct our faults and help us to grow in holiness.
With your grace assist us in our efforts to improve the quality of our lives and
be reconciled with one another. We make this prayer…
PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS
Lord, help us to resist temptation by our lenten works of charity and penance.
By this sacrifice may we be prepared to celebrate the death and resurrection of
Christ our Saviour and be cleansed from sin and renewed in spirit. We ask
this...
PREFACE (P 11)
Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everwhere to
give you thanks.
Through our observance of Lent you correct our faults and raise our minds to
you, you help us grow in holiness, and offer us the reward of everlasting life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Through him the angels and all the choirs of heaven worship in awe before your
presence. May our voices be one with theirs as they sing with joy the hymn of
your glory:
All: Holy, holy, holy…
COMMUNION ANTIPHON
The man who meditates day and night on the law of the Lord will yield fruit in
due season.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Lord, through this communion may our lenten penance give you glory and bring us
your protection. We ask this...
LITURGY AND LIFE
In the Bible, the number 40 is associated with many great
events: the flood of Noah lasted for 40 days; the wandering of the Hebrews in
the desert lasted for 40 years; Jesus himself fasted in the wilderness of Judea
for 40 days. This amount of time—40 days or 40 years—is clearly special. For the
survivors of the flood, it was enough to purify the earth. For the Hebrews, the
years of desert wandering were enough time to change them from slaves into a
people of God. Even for Jesus, 40 days were enough to change him from the
private person of Nazareth to a public proclaimer of the Kingdom of God. 40 days
or 40 years seem sufficient to accomplish something worthwhile.
What do we seek to accomplish by the observance of the 40 days of Lent? In
essence, it is to become the people God wants us to be.
We begin Lent by placing ashes on ourselves. These ashes are a public sign,
visible to all. Less public are the changes that take place within us, the 40
days of daily growing in faith and coming home to God. The ashes remind us of
painful truths that the world tries to laugh away. Only God drives sin away
through Jesus and through the Cross. Lent offers to the believers a difficult
task and a great challenge: to purify our souls and to come home to God.
Lent is not just a private exercise, but a public observance of the whole
Church. That is why we all leave the church with ashes on our foreheads. Lent is
the great annual retreat of the Church, the people of God, reminding ourselves
of the dignity and obligations that are ours because we are baptized. It is a
time when we prepare ourselves for the great annual renewal of our own baptismal
promises. It is God who is at work in us, changing us and transforming us.
Sometimes we resist change, but the Bible is clear: God continually calls each
of us to become a ‘new person in Christ’.
Lent is a time of penance to remind us of Jesus’ paschal mystery: his passion
and glorious resurrection. Traditionally during Lent Christians fast, pray and
give alms. These three complement one another and work together to pull us away
from ungodly influences and to strengthen and guide us back to new life in
Jesus. All three are necessary. All three, practised faithfully, will lead us
back to Jesus, the Risen Lord of Easter.
Lent is the customary time for receiving the sacrament of Penance. We need to
cultivate a true spirit of repentance because “the distinctive character of
penance is a detestation of sin because it is an offence against God.” The
Scripture readings throughout Lent are filled with images of water and
forgiveness.
The message that is given to us during Lent is: “Repent and believe in the
Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Repentance and faith in Jesus are the conditions for
our deliverance from sins. We are all sinners; there is no doubt about it. But
we are not ‘despairing’ sinners, but ‘hoping’ sinners. Our hope is in the Risen
Jesus who forgives all our sins.
—Fr Sebastian Kattackal, ssp
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