Today is March 5, Ash Wednesday.
At Mass today, we hear: “Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2).
Paul’s urgent proclamation to the Corinthians fills us with excitement: Now is the time! Now is the day of salvation! The energy of a new Lenten season is palpable. We have a great desire to return to the Lord with our whole heart. We want to rend our hearts and experience the mercy of the Lord.
However, a tension lies at the center of all true conversion. This tension is especially felt during Lent. More often than not, our excitement and hopes for Lent are checked by our fears and doubts regarding what we can accomplish. Anyone who has given up something at the beginning of Lent only to give up before the end knows what this is like!
In this season, we realize how much material things give us comfort and assurance. We see more clearly how our minds are filled with constant distractions. During Lent, fasting from the things we like can feel as though we are cutting off a part of ourselves.
An invitation to experience God’s grace
But we have no need to be anxious. This tension should not make you nervous. God draws near to us this Lent, a season that is more about what he does within us rather than what we can achieve by ourselves. This is an acceptable time because this is a season of grace.
Behold: God has proclaimed this season for you! He invites you into the desert to experience his grace.
With St. Paul, “we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain” (1 Cor 6:1). On this first day of Lent, rend your hearts. God will provide the strength and determination to begin this season with high hopes and bring it to fruitful completion.
Let us pray,
Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of Christian service, so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils, we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
