Wednesday - March 06, 2019
March 6 2019
Ash Wednesday
Lectionary: 219
Reading 1JL 2:12-18
Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion!
proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the people,
notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
gather the children
and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, "Spare, O LORD, your people,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
'Where is their God?'"
Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion!
proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the people,
notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
gather the children
and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, "Spare, O LORD, your people,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
'Where is their God?'"
Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.
Responsorial PsalmPS 51:3-4, 5-6AB, 12-13, 14 AND 17
R. (see 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
"Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight."
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
"Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight."
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Reading 22 COR 5:20—6:2
Brothers and sisters:
We are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
Working together, then,
we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:
In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.
harden not your hearts.
We are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
Working together, then,
we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:
In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.
Verse Before The GospelSEE PS 95:8
If today you hear his voice,harden not your hearts.
GospelMT 6:1-6, 16-18
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms,
do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
"When you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
"When you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you."
"Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms,
do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
"When you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
"When you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you."
******************************
The Purifying Walk To Good Friday
On Ash Wednesday, we receive ashes on our foreheads to remind ourselves of our sinfulness and our need for Jesus and what he did for us on Good Friday to redeem us from sin.
What will you do this Lent that will aid your spiritual growth? Here's a suggestion: Identify one fault -- just one -- and choose an activity or an abstinence that will help you overcome it.
In Joel 2:12-18, God beckons: "Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning." This scripture and Psalm 51 reassure us that God is merciful toward those who regret their sins so much that they repent. Dealing with our need to change can feel overwhelming and shameful, but if we keep our eyes on God's mercy, we feel helped, healed, and resurrected.
By identifying and working on just one sinful tendency (especially one that's been difficult to overcome), choosing one selfish behavior or one fear or one flaw or one unloving habit as our Lenten project, we can successfully give it to Jesus, nail it to his cross, and hear him offer it up to God as he cries out, "Father forgive them ....!" It will die with Jesus, and we'll be resurrected to a new life, a new level of holiness with Jesus.
To help us on the Lenten journey of purification, Jesus is giving us, in Matthew 6:1-6 and 16-18, a walking staff. It has three parts. The bottom of it is prayer; this is what grounds us. The middle section is fasting; this is what gives strength to the staff. The top section, like a shepherd's crook, is almsgiving; it bends our heavenward heart back to earth where we minister to the people God has placed in our lives.
ALMSGIVING is a gift we give to God in thanksgiving for his generosity to us. Jesus describes two different rewards: the repayment received by hypocrites and the recompense given to those who are generous because they care. The latter are friends of God.
PRAYER can be motivated by right or wrong attitudes. Do we pray with pious words and appropriate gestures to get approval? Do we turn our attention to God only when we want him to grant us favors? Or is our prayer time truly an intimate exchange of love?
FASTING is worthwhile only if it improves our self-discipline so that we can resist sin and grow in holiness. The practice originated in Jewish history as a personal sacrifice on the Day of Atonement (the annual day for the forgiveness of sins). Today, fasting is recommended by the Catholic Church as a means of acquiring "mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart" (Catechism paragraph 2043). In other words, fasting helps us become holier.
By using this walking staff on our Lenten journey, we arrive at Easter with new holiness. Almsgiving converts our hearts by sacrificing our selfish attachments for the sake of others. Praying converts our hearts by sacrificing our selfish use of time for the love of God. And fasting converts our hearts by sacrificing our selfish pleasures, such as the enjoyment of food, for the strengthening of our spiritual maturity.
At the beginning of the journey, we do not wear ashes to look Catholic. It's a sign that we know we need to change!
Today's Prayer:
I want to seek You, Lord, in the intimacy of Your love, in the simplicity of Your power, in the wealth of the silence shared with You. I want to find You in the humility and beauty of Your presence. Amen.
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God Bless You.....
Rosary Family
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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