Readings
from the
Revised Common Lectionary
for
25 February 2004
Ash Wednesday
Today's First Reading is from The Book of Isaiah, beginning at the
58th Chapter and the 1st Verse (Isaiah 58:1-12)
"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my
people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet
they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as if they were a
nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of
their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw
near to God.
Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not? Why have we humbled
ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?'
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress
all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make
your voice to be heard on high.
Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is
it to bow down his head like a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes
under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD?
"Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to
break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to
cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then
shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall
spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory
of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he
will say, Here I am. "If you take away from the midst of you the yoke,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour
yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the
noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy
your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall
be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail
not. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up
the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the
repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.
Today's Song of Praise is taken from Psalm 108 (Ps 108:8-15)
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding
in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger
for ever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor requite us according to
our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast
love toward those who fear him;
As far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our
transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children,
so the LORD pities those who
fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are
dust.
As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower
of the field;
Today's Epistle is from the Second Letter of Paul to the
Corinthians,
beginning at the 4th Chapter, and the 20th Verse (2 Cor 5:20b-6:10)
So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We
beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our
sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God.
Working together with him, then, we entreat you not to accept the grace
of God in vain. For he says, "At the acceptable time I have
listened to you, and helped you on the day of salvation." Behold, now
is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We
put no obstacle in any one's way, so that no fault may be found with
our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way:
through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities,
beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, watching, hunger; by purity,
knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love,
truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of
righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and
dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors,
and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold
we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always
rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet
possessing everything.
+A Reading from the Gospel of Matthew, beginning at the 6th Chapter,
and the 1st Verse (Matt 6:1-6, 16-21)
"Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by
them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in
heaven. "Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they
may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their
reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and
your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you
pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and
pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen
by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But
when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your
Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward
you.
And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they
disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I
say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen
by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in
secret will reward you. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on
earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and
steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither
moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and
steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Sermon
for
25 February 2004
Ash Wednesday
Today is the beginning of Lent -- the Penitential
Season, in which we examine ourselves and our lives -- where we prepare
to once more live through the Cosmic Drama of the Passion, Crucifixion,
and Resurrection of Our Lord. Most practicing Catholics go
to church today, to be marked on the forehead with ashes in the shape
of a cross, and to hear the ancient words: "...dust thou art, and
to dust thou shalt return..."
From the earliest days of the Church, Lent has been
a time of fasting and abstinence -- after the extravagant celebrations
of Carnival (from the Latin "carne vale" -- "goodbye to meat"),
we turn 180 degrees into somber solemnity. Instead of white
and gold, we use purple vestments; instead of bells, wooden
clappers; from today until the deep night of Holy Saturday, we do
not sing the Gloria, nor do we say "Alleluia".
Outside of church, we eat less -- the healthy and
those over 10 are expected to eat in a whole day the amount they would
eat in a single dinner the rest of the year. In the Easter
Churches, the fast is even more strict -- no meat or sweets, and for a
good portion of Lent, not even oil -- just bread and beans.
The idea of the pentitential practices is two-fold:
1) To remind us that our life on this
earth is fleeting -- we go from a sleep to a sleep, dust to dust -- and
that our self-importance, our riches, and our toys will soon be dust
and ashes, just as we will be.
2) To share, in some measure, in Jesus'
sufferings. Our sins flayed His back in the Scourging; our
arrogance set a crown of thorns on His head; our laziness and
intransigence weighed down the Cross he must carry to Golgotha.
It is fitting that we take up our crosses, too, and suffer in some
small measure for Him, who suffered so much for us.
In Spain, and in other Latin Countries of the Old
and New World, "penitentes" take this idea very literally, scourging
themselves, and are occasionally even crucified. While this
practice was common in Europe before 1500, it is not the custom among
English-speaking Catholics and other Christians, not is it taught by
the Roman Catholic Church -- it is execessive, and really does violate
what Jesus says in today's Gospel: "Beware of practicing your
piety before men in order to be seen by
them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in
heaven."
Isaiah makes the same point in today's Old Testament
Reading: "Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a man to
humble himself? Is
it to bow down his head like a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes
under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD?"
Like Jesus in the Gospel, when He says: "Not
everyone who cries 'Lord, Lord' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven,
but only he whos does the will of my Father...", Isaiah demands works
of us if we are to have salvation -- positive works:
"Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the
bonds of wickedness,
to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to
break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and
bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to
cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then
shall
your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up
speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the LORD
shall be your rear guard."
We need to do both, however -- bewail our sins, and
suffer a bit for Christ; and to go out and make the world a better
place, that we may make it a holy gift to the Lord God of Hosts.
We all sin -- but God seeks to forgive us.
Unlike the Calvinist "TULIP god", who seeks the suffering and death of
sinners, God the Father reaches out and snatches up sinners, and clasps
them to His bosom, as did the father of the Prodigal Son. The God
of Isaiah and the Psalmist, who is likewise the loving Father of Jesus
in the New, offers us salvation and the Glory of His Presence -- but
only if we set our foot on te Way -- only if we reach out to Him.
If we turn away in hardness of heart, if we refuse
to do anything for others, because we are too concerned withour own
profit; if we turn away the homeless and the hungry and the
destitute, then we too will be turned away.
In today's Epistle, Paul talks about getting out
there and doing: "So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making
his appeal through us." It is not just faith that saves us -- it
is doing the Lord's work. "Working together with him," he says,
"then, we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain."
It is a hard row to hoe, and a life-long struggle --
both internal and external. Life is not easy, and when it is, we
become lazy and take things for granted. Our destiny is not here,
in this imperfect world, after all -- but above, in the perfection of
Heaven.
Jesus reminds us of this at the end of today's
Gospel:
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust
consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where
thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is,
there
will your heart be also."
Let us then, go out to Do and Suffer, as best we can,
In the
Name of the Father +
And of the Son +
And of the Holy
Spirit +
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