Ash Wednesday
17-February-2021
(This can be a morning and/or evening exercise)
Introduction
Soon it will be a time for sharing Jesus’ Resurrection
and the beginning of a new hopeful time, vaccines included!
a new spring begins around us and Easter calls to us.
a time for reflecting on the growth of new life all around us and in us.
Like Jesus,
Go to a quiet place. Close the door.
Turn off your mobile, radio, and TV.
Light a candle (- if it is safe to do so!)
Try clearing and calming your mind.
Breathe in and out consciously for a few moments.
Focus on God, Abba, our Father .
God is already there and just waiting for us.
Lent 2021 is meant to be a time of positive energy, preparation and spiritual growth
– a springtime for our spirits.
Each day click here anytime between Midnight and midnight and we will
Remember a daily short biblical saying,
Reflect on it’s meaning for our life,
Pray for a change of heart and a new hope for the future.
Your hosts will be www.catholicireland.net, and
Your guides: Frs Donal Neary, S.J. and John Cullen P.P
17/02/02 Today: Ash Wednesday
Remember Book of Joel, Prophet: 12-18.
‘Now, now – it is the Lord who speaks
come back to me with all your heart, fasting, weeping, mourning.’
Let your hearts be broken not your garments torn,
turn to the Lord your God again, for he is all tenderness and compassion,
slow to anger, and rich in graciousness.
…Then the Lord took pity on his people.
Reflect
Although the Prophet Joel lived 400 years before Jesus he was a hugely insightful.
His book tells of a coming terrible plague of locusts – a sign of God’s wrath!
Then it moves on to a call to repentance and concludes with God’s assured forgiveness.
(Did you know that locusts can eat a phenomenal amount of vegetation – today an African swarm of 80 million locusts can devour vegetation that enough to feed 35,000 people in a day?)
Lent can be a time to wake up and change our ways.
A time to refresh our body, mind and spirit,
to pray, to reread a few verses of Scripture
or to share a little time with others,
especially those who are poor or needy or sickly.
The test of our Lent is not what we do for Lent,
but what Lent can do through us and for us.
Speaking in the name of God Joel wrote,
‘I will pour out my spirit on all peoples,
your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
Pray
Lord,
As we begin the journey of Lent,
may this season of acceptance, repentance and growth,
open our eyes and hearts to our sinfulness,
our need to forgive others their sins and
our neglect of those who need our help.
This we ask in Jesus name, Amen.
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