by Sr. Rose Marie Tresp, RSM
Joel 2:12-18 | 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 | Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
Yet even now, declares God, return to me with all your heart. ~Joel 2:12
As we enter into the Lenten 2020 season, a time of uncertainty in our world and country, we ask ourselves: What does it mean to be a disciple, a follower of the gospel and person of Jesus Christ? What does it mean to receive the ashes that symbolize a desire to return ever more deeply to God with all my heart?
When I taught grade school religion, the children told me that it was easier to give up such things as chocolate than to make a positive choice to do cheerfully such actions as their assigned chores. So our Lenten fasting is not so much “fasting from” as “fasting toward” that deepening that will allow us to be ambassadors for Christ, to be reconciled with God, and to receive the grace of God. To live the Gospel authentically is to increasingly live with no division between word and action.
For reflection:
- What practices this Lenten season will assist me to look deeper, to return to God with all my heart, to live without division between word and action?
____________
This reflection was taken from Fasting Towards Freedom: Reflections for Lent 2020, available for purchase as a download in our store at this link.
For more resources for Lent 2020, visit our Lent 2020 page by clicking here.
Can I receive the Tresp Ash Wed. reflection in Spanish ?
Yes you can order the Lent reflection booklet in Spanish at: http://paxchristiusa.3dcartstores.com/FOLLETO-ELECTRONICO-Ayunando-hacia-la-libertad-Reflexiones-para-la-Cuaresma-2020_p_321.html
In today’s very fallen world, grasping that “still, faint voice” of our Maker can be difficult in the extreme. But Sr. Rose Marie gently reminds us what, as Christians, is asked if us.. how, in drawing nearer to our God, we also come to know each other and ourselves – and find healing, too.