Christ the Cornerstone

Make Lent a time to renew your spirit, draw closer to Christ

When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. (Mt 6:6)

Ash Wednesday is next week, and with it, Lent begins. Although Lent is a penitential season, it should not be a gloomy time for Christians.

Lent prepares us for the joy of Easter by reminding us that Christ has conquered sin and death. We fast, pray and give alms during this holy time of year not because we are sad or depressed, but because Jesus has shown us that self-sacrificing love is the only way to experience lasting joy.

In the first reading for Ash Wednesday from the Book of the Prophet Joel (Jl 2:12-18), we learn that the Lord is “slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment” (Jl 2:13).

This is great news. It means that if we atone for the sins we have committed, we will experience God’s love and forgiveness instead of his justifiable wrath. We do not deserve God’s kindness to us, but he never hesitates to surround us with his grace and to welcome us back to his presence.

In the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 51), we cry out to the Lord:

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. (Ps 51:3-4)

Then we ask him to purify us and fill us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit:

A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me. (Ps 51:12-13)

Ash Wednesday is a day for cleansing and spiritual renewal. It is a time when we acknowledge that we are “dust,” fashioned from the earth and bound to return there, except for the grace of God which has created us in his own image and destined us to be united in the everlasting glory of his heavenly home.

The second reading (2 Cor 5:20-6:2) invites us to be reconciled to God because of the mission that we received when we were baptized. We are “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Cor 5:20), St. Paul tells us.

As missionary disciples of Jesus Christ, we are challenged to let go of everything that holds us back or prevents us from joyfully proclaiming his Gospel: “Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2). Lent is an opportunity to renew our spirits and to rid ourselves of whatever gets in the way of our conversion to Christ and our ability to carry out the mission he has entrusted to our care.

Finally, the Gospel reading for Ash Wednesday (Mt. 6:1-6, 16-18) counsels us to be humble and pure of heart in our witness to Christ. What we do, and the way we do it, must never be ostentatious. As Jesus tells his disciples:

Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. (Mt 6:1-4)

The mission that we have been given will not make us wealthy, famous or powerful. We do not “perform righteous deeds” so that we can be seen to be holy. Ours is a mission of love and service that is best carried out in secret. God the Father knows who we are and what we are doing in Jesus’ name. He will repay us with his loving kindness.

As we prepare to celebrate Ash Wednesday and begin the holy season of Lent, let’s remember that God is merciful and that he welcomes our repentance and conversion. The prayer, fasting and almsgiving that we are invited to do all year long are especially important during Lent. The Church gives us this penitential time as a gift—to help us reorient our lives and return to the Father by following in the Son’s footsteps and by submitting to the graces of the Holy Spirit.

During this 2025 Jubilee Year, let’s think of Ash Wednesday as a Holy Door that leads to the special gifts and graces of Lent. May the Holy Trinity strengthen and renew us during the next six weeks as we prepare for Easter joy. †