Ashes to Ashes

1. ASH IS A SYMBOL OF MISERY

One of the unforgettable and moving image of the Taal eruption for me is that of the crying boy covered with ashes on his mother’s arms. The were one of the first refugees in the Seminary in the night of the eruption. They were from Talisay Batangas and as the Volcano erupted and ashes went up into the air, they ran to Tagaytay riding on his Father’s motorcycle so the boy and his father were exposed to the ash fall that afternoon.

The image of the boy covered with volcanic ashes is in no way different from the image we will look like upon receiving the blessed ashes. As they said, the volcanic ashes are bad for the skin and for the respiratory system because of their enormous sulfuric contents.

I felt pity for the boy and his father, and at some point, I also shed a tear seeing them like that.

The ashes that befell the victims are detrimental to health and it makes them look helpless and it reflects the suffering they had endured under the condition of the ash fall that day. They were vulnerable. They were suffering. They were helpless just as a thousand others were.

2. ASHES REFLECT THE BEGINNING AND END OF LIFE

Their wearing of the ashes is consequential. The ashes that we will wear today are symbol of death and humility. The priest says: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” This aphorism of dust points out to our being ashes, created by God from adama or earth. But the ashes we wear today is a conscious reminder about our future glory. It is a reminder that death is part of our material existence but not of our spirits.

3. FORMING ASHES ENTAILS “DISCIPLINE”

Just as our earthly body begins and ends as dust, God’s mercy is experienced in between. In the beginning of life, there is God’s providence. In the end, there is his mercy.

But in the middle of the birth and dying lies our choices, lies our control of our life, lies the freedom upon which we configure our lives according to how we want it and so much more.

Ashes are very formidable material. When gathered, they could be formed into bricks or vessels. It only depends on our ability to form and innovate ways and means.

Ashes could be symbolic of our own life. God gives it and He will take it back. We will only have it for a certain period of time. It really depends on us whether we will let it as it is, if we will leave it formless until we return it back to Him.

Ashes may be bad for the health and could pertain to the end of life, but ashes could also become earthen vessels if there is innovation and and discipline.

The season of lent is all about our discipline of shaping our lives into becoming better. The discipline of lent seeks to instill the fundamental value of Christianity in us as achieved bybthe threefold disciplinary prescriptions of our readings: Prayer, Fasting and Abstinence.

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FIRST READING

Jl 2:12-18

Even now, says the LORD,

return to me with your whole heart,

with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;

Rend your hearts, not your garments,

and return to the LORD, your God.

For gracious and merciful is he,

slow to anger, rich in kindness,

and relenting in punishment.

Perhaps he will again relentm

and leave behind him a blessing,

Offerings and libations

for the LORD, your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion!

proclaim a fast,

call an assembly;

Gather the people,

notify the congregation;

Assemble the elders,

gather the children

and the infants at the breast;

Let the bridegroom quit his room

and the bride her chamber.

Between the porch and the altar

let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,

And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people,

and make not your heritage a reproach,

with the nations ruling over them!

Why should they say among the peoples,

‘Where is their God?’”

Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land

and took pity on his people.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17iz

R. (see 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

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.

R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

For I acknowledge my offense,

and my sin is before me always:

“Against you only have I sinned,

and done what is evil in your sight.”

R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

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.

R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Give me back the joy of your salvation,

and a willing spirit sustain in me.

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

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SECOND READING

2 Cor 5:20-6:2

Brothers and sisters:

We are ambassadors for Christ,

as if God were appealing through us.

We implore you on behalf of Christ,

be reconciled to God.

For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,

so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Working together, then,

we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

For he says:

In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.

Behold, now is a very acceptable time;

behold, now is the day of salvation.

GOSPEL

Jesus said to 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.

“When you pray,

do not be like the hypocrites,

who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners

so that others may see them.

Amen, I say to you,

they have received their reward.

But 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.

“When you fast,

do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.

They neglect their appearance,

so that they may appear to others to be fasting.

Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.

But when you fast,

anoint your head and wash your face,

so that you may not appear to be fasting,

except to your Father who is hidden.

And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”