Ash Wednesday: First day of Lent

Ash Wednesday: First day of Lent

Matthew 6:1-6,16-18

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

In this ancient formula, we are reminded of our mortality and that we too shall one day return to the dust from which man was originally drawn. Ash reminds us that we are not immortal; we are only pilgrims on the journey. One day we will be gone.  Ash Wednesday is a reminder of our humanity.

Today I would like to share 4S’s for you guys. The season of Lent reminds us that we are all SINNERS. Sin makes us dirty, mortal and weak. The ash on our foreheads reminds us that we are dirty. But no matter how sinful we are, there is a God who always loves and accepts us. As St. Paul said: “Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more.”
Yes, we are all sinners and that is why we need to make some SACRIFICES. We need to do something pleasing for our creator. Our Holy mother Church asked us to pray, fast and give alms. In doing, so we need to do it SECRETLY. Pray in secret, fast in secret and give alms in secret. Showing that we are praying is hypocrisy. Displaying our generosity is pretentious. Jesus warns us in the gospel saying: “beware of practising your piety before people in order to be seen.” Do not let your right hand knows what your left hand is doing.

Finally, when we make those sacrifices, we need to accompany it with a big SMILE. When you pray, smile. When you fast, smile. When you give alms, smile. SILENCE and SMILING are two powerful tools. Smiling is the way to solve many problems and Silence is the way to avoid many problems. Fellow Sinners, make sacrifices but do it in secret and accompany them with a smile. My dear kababayans, I wish you a blessed Lent.

Blessings
Fr. Jhack

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published.