TODAY'S WORD

By


Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Rector and Parish Priest
Don Bosco Shrine
Lingarajapuram, Bangalore

‘Your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you’.  (MATHEW 6: 4)

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday could hardly make more visible and tangible the transience of things and our mortality. We start Lent in humility, close to the ground, close to our earthiness: remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.

In the words of Pope Francis: *' Behold, we are going to Jerusalem'*  let's make this a ringtone for this season

TODAY'S REFLECTION

In the words of today’s first reading, he says to us, ‘Come back to me with all your heart… turn to the Lord your God again, for he is all tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness’. 

We need the Lord’s tenderness, compassion and graciousness in these Covid days more than ever.

In the Gospel reading Jesus calls us to focus on 3 things in order to enjoy the renewal and transformation we will receive on the day of Easter:

Prayer, Fasting  and Almsgiving, or in other words, growing in our love of God and in our love of others through giving up the desires through fasting. 

The Lord is always calling us to prayer.  Prayer is a moment when we open our hearts to receive from these life-giving qualities of the Lord. 

The letting go, the loss, involved in such a time can be an opportunity to open ourselves more fully to this kind of receptive prayer. 

As we open ourselves more fully to the Lord’s compassionate and tender love, we are empowered to relate to others with the Lord’s own compassionate and tender love. 

In the words of the gospel through fasting make room for God through our Poverty and Self Denial, almsgiving (Concern and loving care for the poor), Prayer, a childlike dialogue with the father to live a sincere faith, living hope and a effective charity. 

As we allow the way that the Lord relates to us to shape how we relate to one another, we can build one another up in these days, give one another new courage and hope. 

We can make Lent a graced time for ourselves and others, so that when Easter comes in seven weeks’ time, we can celebrate it with renewed joy and hope.

Lent is traditionally a time of penance, when we try to die to ourselves in some way so as to live more fully to the Lord and to others. 

Many people feel that the past eleven months or so have been a kind of never-ending Lent. 

We have had to die to so much that we took for granted. 

Even the closest family ties have been impacted, as people have been unable to visit family members in hospital or even to be with them as they were dying. 

Children and young people have had to die to their normal educational experience. 

Those with jobs have had to work from home and die to, let go of, the normal human interaction that can enhance the work experience. 

Parents have had to juggle working at home with helping with their children’s home schooling. 

Those living alone with limited mobility have experienced even greater isolation. 

A lot of people have had to give up a great deal of what is precious in life. 

Let's remember  that we are entering into a period of grace to renew Faith, Hope and Charity.


RESOLUTION

Let's resolve to make use of this lent as a time for believing, for welcoming God into your lives and allowing him make as new.

A blessed lent to each one of you.