By
Charles Muchiri
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Liturgical Year B, Cycle II
Day of Fast and Abstinence
Ash Wednesday
Readings for Mass
First Reading: Joel 2: 12-18
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 51: 3-4,
5-6, 12-13, 14, 17
Second Reading: Second Corinthians
5: 20-6:2
Gospel: Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18
Behold, the Lenten season is here
with us!
Today, the Church has gathered the people,
it has notified the congregation; it has assembled the elders, it has gathered
the children, and the infants at the breast; and behold, through the smearing
of a sign of the cross in the form of ash on everyone’s forehead, the Church
has reminded everyone of us: That we are dust, and unto dust we shall return.
The response to the day’s Responsorial Psalm: Be merciful, O Lord, for we
have sinned, captures it so well; bringing us to the reality of the fact that
we are indeed sinners.
Now, no mortal being can stand
before God and claim that he or she is righteous. In one way or another, we
have fallen short of the benchmark that is God’s Holiness.
And
that is why; everyday is a day of going back to God, seeking for His salvation.
In
the Second reading, St Paul quotes God as saying; “Behold, now is a very
acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2nd Corinthians 6: 2)
behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2nd Corinthians 6: 2)
This
is the season of seeking this salvation through prayers, fasting and
abstinence. But as Christ points out in the Gospel, our praying; our fasting;
our abstinence shouldn’t be about showing off.
Let
us do these things not to please man, but to please He who is able to see all
the things that we do in secret, and is able to repay in secret.
/Follow this writer on Twitter: @muchirimuchoki/
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