RBWords

     The Lenten message from the scriptures seems pretty clear.  There has to be an interior cleansing and conversion.  This is not just a Lenten message.  There was no Lent when those passages were written!  It is the consistent message from God, inviting us always to turn away from destructive and useless things to faith and love for neighbor!  Yet, so many settle for the "external" Lent by "giving up" something (with exceptions for Sundays)!  If the "giving up," whether it be chocolates or alcohol or whatever, is a sign of a true change of heart, then it should be done.  But if it is simply a "Lenten habit" for each year which produces no change other than a 40 day inconvenience, there is really no point to it.  Some opt for giving to such causes as "rice bowl" or Oxfam, which is very commendable, but is Lent the only time this can be done?  

     Ash Wednesday is the biggest church-going day of the year in Catholic Churches around the world, and it is not even a holy day of obligation!  If all those who go to "get the ashes" were undertaking this sign of repentance with a heart intent on doing just that, the power of that conversion would indeed change the world!  Our world desperately needs the "return" and the "reconciliation" spoken of in Joel and Paul.  It needs an interior conversion and not an external sign as Jesus speaks in Matthew today.  The ashes will wash or wear off in a matter of hours or less.  Will the intention of repentance last only that long, too?

     Whatever way we choose to observe the holy and penitential season of Lent, I pray it will be linked to the change of heart that alone is worth the effort, and that it will be a true preparation for Easter!  AMEN