On this 40-day Lenten journey we are called to renew our baptism that begins with God's love and continues with us, living and bringing God's love and care to the world.
Ash Wednesday, our first step on this journey gives us the Gospel reading with Jesus speaking of three important things we should be about on this path: sacrifice, prayer and fasting, all to be done without a desire for recognition.
What we do recognize is that we are in need of conversion, and the ashes that are on our foreheads today publicly acknowledges this and reminds us that we are to called to "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel."
The prophet Joel tells us that we can rely on God who is "gracious and merciful...slow to anger, rich in kindness and relenting in punishment," And the reading from Paul expresses the urgency of the message – the time is now, this very day is our “day of salvation”.
As we walk this 40-day path together lets remember that it we must act in a way that both recognizes Gods love for us, and also calls us to act in a way that reflects God’s love to others. How will we do this? Step, by step, with prayer, sacrifice and fasting.
What are you doing as you begin your journey?
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