18/02/2026
*ASH WEDNESDAY YEAR A*
It is always good to have the opportunity to sit back and take stock; an opportunity to reconnect oneself with the Source of all graces; an opportunity to evaluate how oriented we are to God and by God; an opportunity to re-establish oneself on the right path; an opportunity to re-affirm the yes we have said to God and to dismiss any form of link with the Evil One; an opportunity to reflect in ourselves, in clearer terms, the Mysteries of Christ's Life so as to be filled with the merits of His Paschal Mysteries. May this year's opportunity never be a waste; Amen.
With the Liturgy of the Ash Wednesday, we begin the grace-filled and spirit-elevating Season of Lent. Notable in the Liturgy of today is the blessing and reception of ashes from which the celebration of today derives its name. Ash here is a sign of Repentance, Penitence and Conversion; and also a concrete sign of the avowed readiness to change for the better. The Ash we place on ourselves today is a clear and concrete sign of our decision to be oriented by God. Part of the goal of the Lenten Season is to initiate within us a stable form of positive change for good. Likewise, the Ash that is received today by the faithful is a sign of the futility of the things of this world and the utmost nobility of the realities of the world to come; our true homeland. It is a sign of our readiness to live beyond the here and now. This makes clear another dimension of the goal of the Lenten Season which is to form us to transcend the unnecessary and distractive attractions of the things of this world. Hence, Lent is a period of penitence, self-evaluation, repentance, reconciliation and spiritual re-strategization and refill. At Lent, we prepare to fittingly celebrate the great Easter Feast. At Lent also, we open ourselves all the more for God through the practice of the various Lenten Penitential Disciplines.
The Readings of today diversely present to us the key elements of the Lenten Season and the focus of this period of grace. At Lent, we are invited to walk the path of Repentance and Conversion. Both Repentance and Conversion ultimately take place within the human person, in the most interior part of human existence. This comes about also with certain visible consequences that culminates with living a style of life that is pleasing to God. The inner/interior disposition gives meaning to the external expressions of Repentance and Conversion. The First Reading (Joel 2:12-18) recaptured these through God's invitation to all; "come back to me with all your heart, fasting, weeping, mourning. Let your hearts be broken, not your garments torn." Both Repentance and Conversion lead to Reconciliation and this Reconciliation takes place in three grades; with God, with ourselves and with fellow human beings. Saint Paul in the Second Reading (2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2) revealed God's ever readiness to have us reconciled with Him; "God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God." Reconciliation unveils the beauty of every relationship. Where Reconciliation is undermined, the future of our relationships is also undermined. This is also true about our relationship with God. The three main disciplines of the Lenten Season greatly prepare us for and lead us to true Conversion and Repentance that will eventually lead to Reconciliation. Jesus spoke about these disciplines in the Gospel Reading of today (Matthew 6:1-6,16-18). Almsgiving, Prayer and Fasting, especially when they are done in good faith and inspired by the desire to please God, and when they are concrete signs of our readiness to Repentance and Conversion and of one's availability and openness for Reconciliation. In almsgiving, we make the love of God the practical rule of our lives. In prayer, we profess our faith in God's omnipotence and benevolence. In fasting, we decisively prepare to become beneficiaries of God's promises and blessings by allowing ourselves to be transformed. These are the opportunities which the Season of Lent affords us.
Lord God, in this period of grace, may all voices that do not speak of You and about You be silenced. May our sensory and cognitive faculties be graced to listen, discern and practice that which pleases You and which leads us to Repentance, Conversion Reconciliation and to be divinely oriented; Amen. Fr Cyril CCE
