Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is about repentance. We turn away from sin and embrace the Gospel. We put a cross of ash on our foreheads (figuratively or literally) and acknowledge that we are dust and live only by God's breath. In most cases, make-up conceals what we really look like, however, this ashen cross reveals who we really are -- desperate beggars for God's mercy. Henri Nouwen warns us about being so overwhelmed by our sinfulness that we get paralyzed by guilt, unable to receive God's mercy and be renewed in His love. Repentance is not about death but life. Just as joy is unleashed by suffering, so hope is conceived by repentance. I must live in the aura of God's mercy. I cannot give into the calm of sin's oppression and the pride of refusing help. Rather, I should celebrate God's mercy with the exuberance of a liberated slave.