{"id":3185,"date":"2020-02-27T07:38:06","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T12:38:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=3185"},"modified":"2020-02-27T07:38:06","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T12:38:06","slug":"homily-for-ash-wednesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/homily-for-ash-wednesday\/","title":{"rendered":"Homily for Ash Wednesday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ash Wednesday<\/a>
Joel 2:12-13
Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14, 17 (3a)
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2
Matthew 6;1-6, 16-18
February 26, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are here\ntoday because a fast has been proclaimed and we have been called to gather as\nan assembly.  We are called to gather one\nand all.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because we\nhave sinned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have\nbeen times when we have turned away from God. \nWe do this as individuals, each struggling against temptation.  We also sin as a people, not holding as a\npeople to God\u2019s ways.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have\nturned away from God but He has not turned away from us.  He calls us to return to him with our whole\nhearts.  He calls us to rend our hearts.  We do this with \u201cweeping and mourning<\/em>\u201d\nbecause we are sorry for our sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do this\nwith fasting.  It\u2019s not that the fasting\nmakes up for our sins.  The fasting is to\nbe a sign of our repentance, our desire to turn back to God.  In fasting, we are saying we put God first\nover the things of this world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we\nwilling to admit our sins?  Do we\nrecognize that only God can cleanse of our sins, that only God can create a \u201cclean\nheart<\/em>\u201d in us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do we\nrecognize that we can\u2019t atone for our sins on our own?  God doesn\u2019t have to forgive us but He does\nbecause He is merciful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing this,\nwe cry out, \u201cBe merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is with\nall this in mind that we gather today to begin our season of Lent.  We gather as an assembly to admit our sins and\nadmit our need for forgiveness and mercy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We gather\npublicly.  Does this contradict what\nJesus says in the gospel about not doing these things to be seen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\ndepends.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why are you\nhere?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you here\nin order that others see you here?  Are\nyou here to win the praise of others? \nAre you here in order for others to see you pray?  Are you here so others know you have been\nfasting?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think\n\u201cmotive\u201d is key here.  We are not here \u201cto\nwin the praise of others<\/em>.\u201d  We are\nhere to admit our sinfulness.  We are here\nto admit we need the help of God and we need the prayers of each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need to\nperform \u201crighteous deeds<\/em>.\u201d  We\nneed to give alms according to our means. \nWe need to pray.  We do these\nthings not for human praise.  Rather we\ndo them recognize our need for God and in gratitude for the blessings God has\ngiven us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We come in\nrecognition of our need for God\u2019s mercy. \nSo, some might interpret our motives as purely selfish.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, we come\nto acknowledge our sins.  We come to\nreceive mercy.  But it should not be\nsimply about mercy for ourselves.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul speaks\nof being \u201cambassadors for Christ.<\/em>\u201d \nAs \u201cambassadors\u201d we are to tell others about Christ.  We are to tell others that God is\nmerciful.  We are to tell others that\nJesus died for our sins and that He is willing to show mercy to all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do we\npray in the Lord\u2019s Prayer?  \u201cForgive us\nour trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, let us\npray for God\u2019s mercy upon all his people. \n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ash WednesdayJoel 2:12-13Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14, 17 (3a)2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2Matthew 6;1-6, 16-18February 26, 2020 We are here today because a fast has been proclaimed and we have been called to gather as an assembly.  We are called to gather one and all.  Why? Because we have sinned. There have been times when we have …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Homily for Ash Wednesday’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82,260,150],"tags":[704,705,706,139],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-Pn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3185"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3185"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3187,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3185\/revisions\/3187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}