Homily for Ash Wednesday 2006

“Lifestyle” is the inword these days in advertising. Lifestyle sells real estate on the coast, and cars ,and all kinds of aids to modern life. Anything can be made attractive if it offers “lifestyle” whatever that is! But such lifestyles usually have a dark side. They cost plenty of money and get people into trouble.

Today Jesus and the liturgy of the Church suggests a different lifestyle. The blessing with ashes is reminding us who we are: “we are nothing that is filled with eternity, death that teems with life” (Karl Rahner, The Eternal Year, p62). The Prophet Joel (2:12-18) calls the whole community together to pray, fast and do works of mercy. Jesus is not recommending fasting as a fad for weight control. And prayer is about more than having an endless credit card with God. Our almsgiving is more than easing our conscience about our own good fortune.

Prayer, fasting and works of mercy. These are the three pillars of discipleship for Jesus. But, he emphasises they must be genuine.

It has been said that “prayer is a hunger”. Prayer is simply a hunger for what really fulfils. Prayer is laying open our need that God might fill it in God's way. It is not a practice in return for which God will give what we ask. We can so easily turn our relationship with God into a commercial transaction.

Fasting is a symbolic act. It is a physical expression of an attitude of letting our hearts be exposed to the gaze of God. It is removing everything from our lives that would distract us so we are ready to hear God calling. It is stripping ourselves naked before God that we might see ourselves for who we are.

Or as we heard last Sunday, to let God “speak to our heart” (Hosea 2). This is the opposite lifestyle to the gospel of the world which tells us constantly, “Indulge yourself. Do not wait. You can have it all now.” Rather, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3).

If we are to die to ourselves it is in order that we live for others. We do not give to the needy because we think that we will solve all the worlds problems by it. We do it, certainly to help, but also to remind ourselves of the reality of the situation of most of the world's population. It it is not a substitute for the kind of political action to bring about justice for those people. Almsgiving reminds us of our responsibility.

All of Lent is a reminder of these things because we are inherently forgetful. It has been said that the tendency to stay where we are comfortable, is the greatest impediment to spiritual growth. We cling to our old ways of acting and thinking. We cling especially to our accustomed way of thinking about ourself. It is a kind of laziness. If we do not grow we usually descend into a less and less demanding style of life. Lent calls us into the desert, into the quiet places of our hearts to let God look at us to question who we are. We are being asked who are you? Is the story we have made of ourselves the real truth of us? Or is our life a well constructed lie like that of the Pharisees?

So it is not the mere observance of the practices and rituals of lent that make us holy. It is God who makes us holy. We can only let God get on with the job.

Repentance asks us to begin the journey again and again.

Fr Graham