#94 Ash Wednesday
"Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return" (Gn 3:19). These words, spoken for the first time by God to Adam after he had committed sin, are repeated today by the Church to every Christian, in order to remind him of two fundamental truths - his nothingness and the reality of death.
Dust, the ashes which the priest puts on our foreheads today, has no substance; the lightest breath will disperse it. It is a good representation of man's nothingness: " O Lord, my substance is as nothing before Thee" (Ps 38:6), exclaims the Psalmist. Our pride, our arrogance, needs to grasp this truth, to realized that everything in us is nothing. Drawn from nothing by the creative power of God, by His infinite loe which willed to communicate His being and His life to us, we cannot - because of sin - be reunited with Him for eternity without passing through the dark reality of death. the consequence and punishment of sin, death is, in itself, bitter and painful; but Jesus, who wanted to be like to us in all things, in submitting to death has given all Christians the strength to accept it out of love. Nevertheless, death exists, and we shouldreflect on it, not in order to distress ourselves, but to arouse ourselves to do good. "In all thy works, remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin (Sir 7:40). The thought of death places before our eyes the vanity of earthly things, the brevity of life - "All things are passing; God alone remains" - and therefore it urges us to detach ourselves from everything, to scorn every earthly satisfaction, and to seek God alone. The thought of death makes us understand that "all is vanity, except to love God and serve Him alone" (Imitation of Christ).
"Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die . . . then there will be many things about which you care nothing" (St. Teresa of Jesus), that is, you will give up everything that has no eternal value. Only love and fidelity to God are of value for eternity. "In the evening of life, you will be judged on love" (St. John of the Cross).
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Ash Wednesday reflection
Just a short quote from the book "Divine Intimacy" by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, O.C.D.
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Sometimes like ashes, Lord, as I come here to pray
ReplyDeletelike the charred remains of all my good intentions,
the words I want to say dry up, blow away,
I am left here, speechless, my heart a bare indention,
an empty thumbprint.
Kyrie eleison.
Dust and ashes - from dust we are made,
And it is your breath that gives that dust a soul,
A reason to reach out and touch before we fade
back into that dust, a purpose and a goal
so often unfulfilled.
Kyrie eleison.
Today I know the taste of dust, of what my flesh will be,
Hear my stumbling voice that cries out, wordless, lost,
Today I taste the ashes of my remorse, and see
How empty the cup, how painful is life's cost,
Spent in self-deception.
Kyrie eleison
Today, in the sackcloth and ashes of a pierced heart,
I kneel down before you, all wordless dust, and broken soul,
Forgive my self-deceptions and sin that keep us apart,
Forgive my dry and dusty self that longs to be whole
In the palm of your hand.
Kyrie eleison