By Marilyn Kott
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Jl 2:12-18 | 2 Cor 5:20-6:2 | Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
The authors of today’s readings wake us from our mid-winter routines, calling us to return to God. Their call has an urgency — we must not delay. It has an assurance — if we return, we will be welcomed. And it has an unmistakable communality.
In the first reading, the prophet Joel begins softly, “Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart.” But then the prophet builds on this, making it clear that while we are to respond in our personal capacity, we must also proclaim to others in our community. “Blow the trumpet!” “Proclaim a fast!” “Gather the people!” The passage ends with the Lord taking pity on the people, plural.
The second reading reinforces the communal nature of reconciling with God. Saint Paul tells us that we are ambassadors of Christ, and that God is appealing through us. Further, he explains, Christ’s sacrifice is so that we might become righteous.
As we begin Lent, often by quietly receiving ashes and solitarily praying for conversion, it can be easy to miss the communal aspect of this call. Much of what we do in life, and in prayer, must be done as individuals. When we are presented for Baptism, and for last rites, it is our individual bodies that are anointed. When we receive the Eucharist, or go to Reconciliation, we receive the Sacraments personally.
But we can no more live alone in the spiritual world than we can in the physical world. In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis teaches us that “human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbor and with the earth itself.”
It’s not possible, then, to turn our hearts to him, unless we also consider the rest of creation. God’s goodness isn’t meant to stay wrapped up inside us, just for ourselves. We are to share it with others, to build it into our communities. In this way, we can help bring his justice and his peace to all the land.
In Saint Matthew’s Gospel, then, Jesus helps us to keep our motivations true. He cautions against the temptation to find ourselves at the center of our efforts, rather than God and his will. “Do not perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them” or to “win the praise of others.” While teaching us to be humble, he never forbids the blowing of the trumpet for God or gathering the people to him. In fact, as we move through Lent, we will find Jesus carefully instructing his apostles on what they are to teach others. In Mark 16:16, we will hear the risen Christ send his disciples into the whole world, telling them to proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
So, as we receive ashes and begin this Lenten season, let us consider ways in which we can share God’s goodness with others and with our world. And let us heed the urgency we hear of today’s readings. As Saint Paul writes, “Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
Maryknoll Affiliate Marilyn Kott, a U.S. Air Force veteran, served from 2015 to 2019 as a Maryknoll lay missioner in Brazil, where she and her husband ministered to men and women in prison. Kott currently leads a Maryknoll Affiliates Chapter in Chicago that focuses on ecological projects to protect our Common Home.
The 2024 Lenten Reflection Guide from the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns contains contributions from missioners around the world.
Featured image: Third grader Maura Baldacchino receives ashes during an Ash Wednesday Mass for the parish school at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Malverne, N.Y., Feb. 26, 2020. Ashes are a sign of repentance used to begin the Lenten season. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)
Questions for reflection
What does it mean to be in community with God, our neighbor, and the earth itself? What does it mean to “proclaim the Gospel to every creature”?
Prayer
We, who gather here today,
give you thanks
for opening our eyes, lives and hearts
to people of lands beyond our horizons.
During our pilgrimages
of encounter with people
in lands no longer so far afield,
some part of us has sprouted
and seeks now to grow in the beauty of
the garden of our hearts.
We pray that you teach us
how to care for this seedling of solidarity
of hope
of healing.
We pray for good soil, rain and sunshine
So that our seedling within
may endure the test of time and seasons.
We who gather here today
give you thanks
for worldwide hearts.
Steve Hicken
Maryknoll Lay Missioner
