Have Mercy On Us And On The Whole World

We've been in the season of Lent for a little over a week now.  On Ash Wednesday we gathered as a faith community to recognize our own mortality and to offer our penitence before our God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  When I look at all of the holy days throughout the church calendar there are so many of them that speak to my heart and help to shape me as a Christian and as a pastor.  But Ash Wednesday is my favorite.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of a forty day long fasting period in the Church.  Many times you hear the phrase "What did you give up for Lent?"  That phrase is a modern day adaptation of the ancient tradition of the Lenten fast.  In the early days of the church, the weeks leading up to Easter  were used to prepare men and women who desired to join the Church.  A part of their commitment to the journey was fasting and prayer.  Sponsors of the church would accompany them along the journey by fasting and praying too.  Over time, this period of fasting and praying became much wider and almost all people in the congregation would fast and pray in solidarity with the new converts.

The purpose behind all of the fasting and praying was to center the new converts in a Christian life.  In the same way, the sponsors (and eventually the entire flock) would also be re-centered around Christ and their commitment to Christian living.  That's what I love about Ash Wednesday.  It is a counter-cultural move by the Church saying, "We are declaring our allegiance to Christ."  On Ash Wednesday we admit that we have messed up.  We acknowledge our own sinfulness, both individually and as a congregation.  We recognize that we only have one life and we determinedly want to live it according to God's desire for us and not for ourselves.

As a member of the laity I didn't always "get it."  I attended Ash Wednesday services and allowed the pastor to smear my forehead with ashes.  I was told "from dust you came, to dust you shall return...repent and believe the gospel."  I allowed myself to be moved towards a more Christ centered life, but I didn't think beyond myself.  I didn't think about the wider community of Christ.

But as a pastor, all of that has changed.  There is something humbling about looking my parishioners in the eye and declaring to them that they are mortal.  There is something deeply emotional about extolling them to repent and to believe the gospel.  Each time that I smudge a person with those former palm branches, it's a sacred moment.  I feel a connection to the person that I don't feel at other times.  Perhaps it's through our shared repentance, our communal declarations of unfaithfulness, that our spirits are connected.  I can't put into words what I feel, but I know that God is meeting us individually and corporately in those ashes.

A few months ago I heard a song played on EWTN that intrigued me.  I heard it a few more times after that. It was such a beautiful song that I began to research what it was.  I finally discovered that the song I had been hearing is a prayer that had been put to music.  It is the prayer known as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.  This song is the epitome of the Lenten journey.  The words of the song cry out to God to remember the body and blood of Christ and because of his sacrifice to "have mercy on us and on the whole world."  You see, Lent is not about us.  It is about sacrifice, fasting, prayer, re-centering...essentially it is about God and our relationship with him.

That's why I love Ash Wednesday and Lent.  It not only focuses me as an individual, it also focuses my entire faith community.  We recognize that we can do more and be more than we have been.  It pushes us to see that Christ's blood was shed for more than our small part of the world.  Through Lent I have been praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy as a part of my daily devotion.  It's not a short prayer.  It is very repetitious.  It probably is not suited for everyone.  However, I invite you to at least listen to it once.  Give yourself about 20 minutes of uninterrupted time where you can feel the presence of God and allow him to focus you outside of yourself.  As you hear the repetition, join in the song prayer.

Whatever you are doing during this season of Lent, may the LORD bless that endeavor.  I sincerely hope that God uses this season of fasting to recenter each one of us for ministry, discipleship, and spiritual growth. Until next time...





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