Braggers are so…let’s say… annoying! You know, those folks who always seem to do things better than the rest of us; they always know the answer to the issue – ‘Oh, I wouldn’t have done it that way!’. Braggers get you down. I’m sitting in a meeting that’s coming to an end. The leader says we must make a date for the next one. Pockets and cases are rifled, and we all stare intently at our smart phones or diary tablets. “How about …?” “Oh No, I can’t make that. A terrible week, so busy.”. Well, Lent is a time to bring some reality and some humility into our lives, and not to brag about it. If you’re trying to put some extra effort into this business of living the life of faith that’s great but please do not advertise your self-denial, your self-examination, your striving after what you know you’ve missed. So, says Jesus: if you’re going to fast, wash your face, slap on the oil so you look as if you’re blooming, and smiling don’t let on what a struggle such a discipline is. Don’t even mention it. That way what you’re doing won’t be seen by anyone, only your Father who is in secret; and your Father who is in secret will reward you[1]. And if that’s true about fasting, it’s also true about every religious practice like giving and praying, but also silence and study and reflection and meditation and compassion and practical encouragement, and whatever else you might do to develop and test your faithfulness. What does Jesus make such a big thing of this secret action and thought? Well, three reasons mainly. First, to emphasize the fact that real faith is not about outward differences but inward differences. It’s about intention, motivation, love and the rest; and these things are inward things. Second. Self-denial isn’t self-denial when its object is to be talked about. Being talked about doesn’t contribute one little thing to what you as a person really are. You may enjoy being talked about but what does it do for your personal growth? What does it do to your nearness to God? What does it do to your strengthening as a person? And third, the encouragement to secrecy is not an encouragement not to do these things. Jesus doesn’t say “don’t fast; don’t pray, don’t give alms”. No, he says, “when you …, when you give alms, when you pray, when you fast….” Do these things and more, but don’t do them ostentatiously. Be quiet about them and you’ll find that some of the quiet of God will rub off on you! Do something. There’s wisdom in taking something on in Lent; in giving something up in Lent; and in giving more away in Lent, but that wisdom isn’t found in show and flamboyance. It’s found in a quite blessedness: and your Father who sees in secret will reward you • AE
[1] Cf Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
Fr. Agustin’s Schedule for Ash Wednesday 2021 (2-17)
Ash Wednesday is a Christian holy day of prayer, fasting, and repentance. Ash Wednesday derives its name from the placing of repentance ashes on the foreheads of participants to either the words «Repent, and believe in the Gospel» or the dictum «Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.» The ashes may be prepared by burning palm leaves from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebrations •
8.00 a.m. Holy Mass with imposition of ashes @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles Catholic Church (School Mass)
12.00 p.m. Imposition of ashes @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles Catholic Church
4.00 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. Sacrament of Reconciliation @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles Catholic Church
5.30 p.m. Holy Mass with imposition of ashes @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles Catholic Church
7.00 p.m. Imposition of ashes @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles Catholic Church
Miércoles de Ceniza 2021
Con sencillez y alegría la liturgia de este día nos invita a reconocer nuestra debilidad. ¡Cuánta distancia hay entre nosotros y el Evangelio y entre nosotros y la fidelidad del Señor! Hoy, si volvemos la mirada sobre nosotros mismos, sobre nuestra manera de vivir, de actuar, brotarán desde lo más hondo de nuestro corazón aquellas palabras que decíamos en el salmo: Misericordia, Dios mío, por tu bondad, por tu inmensa compasión borra mi culpa; lava del todo mi delito, limpia mi pecado[1]. La invitación de hoy es pues a ser sinceros con nosotros mismos. Si nos ponemos ante Dios no podremos gloriamos de nada. ¡Cuánto nos dominan nuestros deseos y nuestros intereses! ¡Cuántas ganas tenemos de imponer nuestro criterio y nuestra voluntad! ¡Qué poca capacidad de renuncia (de dinero, de tiempo, de tranquilidad) para el servicio a los demás! ¡Qué poco nos esforzamos por comprender a los que no son o piensan como nosotros! Y además de reconocer la propia infidelidad también hoy es un buen momento para levantar los ojos a Dios con confianza, con fe: ¡Misericordia, Dios mío, ¡por tu bondad! En este inicio de la Cuaresma, podríamos intentar mirarnos por dentro y reconocer nuestro pecado, y al mismo tiempo, mirar hacia Dios, nuestro Padre, y reafirmar nuestra confianza en su amor. Hoy, la imposición de la ceniza sobre nuestra cabeza será esta señal de reconocimiento. Será como decir: somos débiles, somos pecadores, no acabamos de salir de esta situación, de este estado. Pero no será decírnoslo a nosotros mismos, no será decirnos que no hay nada que hacer, que no hay salida. Será decirlo ante Dios, reconocerlo delante de él. En realidad, es el único camino para llegar, llenos de gozo, a la noche de la celebración de la Pascua • AE
[1] Salmo 50, Miserere.
LA MEDITACION DE LA ESPOSA 