| Ash Wed Feb 18 | am: 95, 32, 143 pm: 102, 130 | Amos 5:6-15 | Heb 12:1-14 | Luke 18:9-14 |
LITURGICAL THEME FOR THE DAY: Ash Wednesday marks the official beginning of Lent, the
40-day penitential season that prepares Christians for Holy Week and Easter. Historically, the Lenten fast originally started on the first Sunday of Lent, but because Sundays were considered “feasts” and therefore exempt from fasting, the period would have been only thirty-six days long. To preserve the traditional forty-day length (excluding the six Sundays), Pope Gregory VII moved the start of the observance forward by four days, establishing.
Ash Wednesday is the opening day of Lent, and from this day forward, we believers are invited to:
1. Clear the heart and mind of anything that hinders a deeper relationship with God.
2. Engage in intentional prayer, listening for God’s voice in the Scriptures and in silence.
3. Observe fasting as a discipline that sharpens spiritual focus and solidarity with the needy.
4. Commit to concrete acts of charity, allowing faith to be lived out in service to others.
Ash Wednesday thus opens a sacred pilgrimage of self-examination and transformation, inviting each participant to enter the Lenten season with purpose, reverence, and a willingness to be reshaped by God’s grace.
MEDITATION OF THE DAY: As we approach the altar on Ash Wednesday and receive the sign of the cross with ash from the Palms placed upon our foreheads, we are reminded of two truths that echo through the words of the prophet Amos:
1. Our mortality – “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The ashes mark the fleeting nature of our earthly lives, just as Amos warns that the pride of Israel will bring it low if it turns away from God.
2. Our call to repentance – The ash is not merely a symbol of death but also of renewal. In Amos, God urges the people to “seek the Lord and live.” He does not speak of a distant future judgment alone; He invites a present turning back to righteousness
The ashes we receive today are but a physical sign pointing to the spiritual call Amos gave Israel—to seek God, practice true justice, and abandon empty religiosity. Let this reminder guide your Lenten journey, shaping each day into a step toward deeper obedience and renewed love.
PRAYER OF THE DAY: Lord, as we begin the discipline of the Lenten Journey, make us holy through these holy disciplines and help us to avoid evil and temptation. Grant this through our Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE: “Ash Wednesday is full of joy… The sources of all sorrow are the illusion that of ourselves we are anything but dust.” – Thomas Merton.
LENTEN DISCIPLINE – Keep a Solemn or Simple Fast, using the money for the Mite Box and the time spent eating to ponder the countless throngs suffering in Sudan and South Sudan.
SONG OF THE HEART, SONG OF THE SEASON – Take These Ashes” by Sarah Hart