To watch Fr. Joe’s homily from Ash Wednesday: CLICK HERE!
In a phrase, the most important thing anyone of us can do as a person this Lent is, “return to the Lord, with your whole heart.”
The ashes we receive or the ashes we do not receive today are meant to be a reminder, a sign to us and others of our “desire and need to live more faithfully as Disciples of Jesus.”
And the traditional disciplines of Lent: prayer, fasting, almsgiving and good works are meant to assist us, to grace us in our efforts to live more faithfully as disciples of Jesus, everywhere and anywhere.
As I was composing my homily, I remembered a news article that mentioned that the pandemic of the past year resulted in what is called the “Covid 20.” (The putting on of 20 pounds of weight the past year…I know some are thinking, I only put on 18, I only put on 14. Maybe Lent 2021 might lead to the negative 20)
But I am not here to repeat what our doctor’s remind us of every time we see doctor.
Rather, I am here today to remind us that in is our Lenten practices, that should lead us to growth in holiness, growth in love of God and others, growth in being faithful disciples of the Lord.
May it be so this Lent 2021 — May your Lent be joy filled!