Ash Wednesday ushers us in the celebrations of the season of Lent. During this season, we are invited to devote more time to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Through these acts of piety, we deepen our faith, exercise self-denial, and practice charity. And by doing these, we come to renew our relationship with God and neighbor.

My brothers and sisters, we receive the ashes today. The imposition of ashes makes sense and becomes meaningful if we keep in mind and take to heart two primary meanings of the ashes. First, the ashes remind us of our MORTALITY. We hear from the priest from whom we receive the ashes saying, “Remember you are dust! And to dust you shall return.” This is a quotation from the book of Genesis addressed to Adam and Eve reminding them of their identity as creatures of God. Life is finite, one day it will come to an end. Therefore, knowing that life on earth is short, we must live our lives acceptable and pleasing to God by using the limited time we have on earth.

The second characteristic of the ashes is REPENTANCE. Again, in some instances, we hear the priest imposing the ashes saying, “Repent and believe in the gospel.” This is the teaching of Jesus to His disciples and also to all of us. He invites us to leave behind our sinful ways with a contrite heart and to move forward with Him by believing in the Gospel and making the Gospel the rule of our lives. We must strive to seek reconciliation with God, believing in His infinite mercy and forgiveness.

Our Gospel reading is clear in inviting us to practice the three acts of piety: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. But it should not be performed for others to see. Rather, its ultimate objective should be the deepening of our relationship with God and others. Practicing these three acts of piety must always be in relation to the two basic commandments: love of God and love of neighbor. This must be sown so that it will bear fruit and become pleasing to God.

My brothers and sisters, let us not treat Ash Wednesday as only a tradition. Rather, let there be a firm conviction that from dust we are made, and to dust, we return. Mindful of this and with sincere contrition, we repent from our sins and believe in the Gospel.

As we begin our journey this Lenten season, we ask for the purity of intentions so that our acts of piety will be pleasing in the eyes of God. Let us take a deeper spiritual reflection about our life. And may our Lenten journey bring us a closer relationship with God and our neighbor. Have a wonderful Lenten journey! God bless you!