Homily - Ash Wednesday, 2004

Homily — Ash Wednesday, 2004

Fr. Timothy W. Castor

On the chapel wall of every convent of the Missionaries of Charity—the order founded by Blessed Teresa of Calcutta—there is a simple motto. It is one of the final words of Jesus from the Cross—a phrase he spoke in his last agony—the simple phrase, "I thirst." Those who do not know our Lord understand this phrase in a very naturalistic way. He was suffering and dying, his throat was parched and he wanted a drink. That’s all the world sees in this request. But when a drink was brought to him, he refused it. Why? Mother Teresa saw a deeper meaning in this expression. She explained it briefly in her address at the National Prayer Breakfast in 1994. Here is what she said: "When he was dying on the Cross, Jesus said, "I thirst." Jesus is thirsting for our love, and this is the thirst for everyone, poor and rich alike. We all thirst for the love of others, that they go out of their way to avoid harming us and to do good to us. This is the meaning of true love, to give until it hurts."

Jesus thirsts for our love. But not just any love, he seeks a love identical to the love with which he loved us: a total, self-sacrificing love—a love unto death. This is our theme for Lent this year here in the Cathedral parish. But how can we achieve such a high degree of love? To start, we must turn our love away from the things which Christ hates—namely, our sin. St. Paul, in today’s second reading, makes two important appeals: "Be reconciled to God" and "Do not receive the grace of God in vain."

Be reconciled to God means simply that we turn from sin and turn back to the Lord. We do this through the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, as we examine our conscience and make a good confession to Christ through his priests, begging the Lord’s mercy and promising, with God’s help, not to fall into sin again.

Do not receive the grace of God in vain. God’s grace is his love—his divine life active within us transforming us to be more closely united with his holy will. We receive his grace each time we approach the Sacraments of the Church, especially Holy Communion in the Sacrifice of the Mass. And we receive his grace countless other ways as the Lord showers us with all his manifold gifts and blessings. But God’s grace will be received in vain—it will have no effect in our lives—if our hearts are not properly disposed to welcome that grace. Once again, sacramental confession is essential. But we can also prepare to receive God’s grace through our voluntary acts of penance, devotion, and self-sacrifice. This is why the traditional pillars of Lent—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—are so important because these activities, if they are undertaken with a serious and conscientious attitude, can truly help to prepare our hearts to receive the grace of God. We cannot earn God’s grace—it is a free gift. But we can open our hands and our hearts to accept that gift lovingly. Christ thirsts for our love. Let us thirst also for his.

The ashes we will receive in a few moments are symbolic of our mortality and our penitence. As we consider the acts of penance which we will undertake this Lent, listen to this vivid word-picture of a Fifth Century bishop of Gaul:

In the shipwreck caused by your sins you have reached out eagerly and caught hold of the plank of faith, and this has brought you to the ship of repentance.... Remain therefore within this ship until you arrive at the port of perfection to disembark on the shore of eternity. A man sailing on the high seas sees nothing, in whatever direction he looks, but the sky above him and the watery depths below. Beware therefore, you who are sailing the sea of this life, of the deep abyss of hell below you. And because no other refuge remains for you, keep your gaze constantly fixed on heaven, as the Apostle reminds us: "Set your heart on what pertains to higher realms were Christ is seated at God’s right hand. Be intent on things above rather than on things of earth." You have died to this world; live then for God alone.