the ashes of a special wednesday
DESCRIPTION
A reflection as we begin our 2013 Lenten journeyTRANSCRIPT
The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart USA Province305 S. Lake Street, PO Box 270 Aurora, IL 60507 (630) 892-2371 [email protected]
By. Fr. David Foxen, MSC
The Ashes of A Special Wednesday
The season of Lent has many shades of
meaning.
Traditionally it is a time when we deal with our humanity and sinfulness,
not as a sin of hopeless weakness
but as a call to healing and new life.
Lent calls us to recall our own baptism as we walk with those preparing for baptism at the
Easter Vigil.
Whatever our emphasis, Lent is
not a time for triviality but for
coming into contact with the deeper themes of our Faith in Jesus Christ as
Savior and Redeemer.
For some Lent seems to retain only the
memory of childhood when giving up candy or some hours of TV made it more a time of self discipline than an encounter with the
realities of sin and new life.
Most of our childhood memories, which had a definite
role to play at the time, have given way
to deeper understandings in
our adult lives.
While at times it is good and wholesome to return to the memories of a time when we
were just discovering the complex world that surrounded us, we need to recognize
the depth that Lent offers us today.
The ashes are a symbol, not the
reality.
If they remain only at the level of symbol, and one too often
without substance and meaning, we are
depriving ourselves of a genuine spiritual
experience that calls us to new understanding,
growth, and hope.
On Ash Wednesday, when we catch a
glimpse of ourselves in the
mirror or of family and friends
with their smudge,
will we see a symbol calling us back to our human reality
and even mortality?
Will we see a symbol of Christ’s voice, calling us to
set aside our pessimism and
hopeless feelings to let the words
of the Good News break through?
Will we see a symbol of
renewed life in the Risen Lord
which transforms us as individuals
and us as Church?
I hope so and wish all of you a blessed and life-giving Lenten season.
We hope you enjoyed this reflection,excerpted from the Living Faith article Ashes of a Special Wednesday.
If you would like to read other articles byFr. David Foxen, MSC, please visit the Living Faith page on our website. Commentswelcome! www.faith.misacor-usa.org
The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart USA Province305 S. Lake Street, PO Box 270 Aurora, IL 60507 (630) 892-2371 [email protected]
Photo Credits• Slide 1: Photo from www.cruzblanca.org/hermanoleon• Slide 2: Photo from www.cruzblanca.org/hermanoleon• Slide 3: Photo by Jennifer Balaska via Wikimedia Commons• Slide 4: Photo © almir1968, via www.istockphoto.com• Slide 5: Photo by George Hodan via PublicDomainPictures.net • Slide 6: Photo from www.cruzblanca.org/hermanoleon• Slide 7: Photo by Petr Kratochvil via PublicDomainPictures.net• Slide 8: Photo from www.cruzblanca.org/hermanoleon• Slide 9: Photo © arlindo71, via www.istockphoto.com• Slide 10: Photo © bbeltman, via www.istockphoto.com• Slide 11: Photo by Petr Kratochvil via PublicDomainPictures.net
Photos are for illustration only.
Photo Credits• Slide 12: Photo © EnginKorkmaz via www.istockphoto.com• Slide 13: Photo © shakzu via www.istockphoto.com• Slide 14: Photo © AlexaSava via istockphoto.com • Slide 15: Photo © PeterJSeager via www.istockphoto.com• Slide 16: Photo by Anna Langova via PublicDomainPictures.net• Slides 18-19: Background by Petr Kratochvil, via
www.PublicDomainPictures.net
Please note that any photos depicting people are of models.