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The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart USA Province305 S. Lake Street, PO Box 270 Aurora, IL 60507 (630) 892-2371 [email protected]
By. Fr. David Foxen, MSC
The Ashes of A Special Wednesday
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The season of Lent has many shades of
meaning.
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Traditionally it is a time when we deal with our humanity and sinfulness,
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not as a sin of hopeless weakness
but as a call to healing and new life.
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Lent calls us to recall our own baptism as we walk with those preparing for baptism at the
Easter Vigil.
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Whatever our emphasis, Lent is
not a time for triviality but for
coming into contact with the deeper themes of our Faith in Jesus Christ as
Savior and Redeemer.
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For some Lent seems to retain only the
memory of childhood when giving up candy or some hours of TV made it more a time of self discipline than an encounter with the
realities of sin and new life.
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Most of our childhood memories, which had a definite
role to play at the time, have given way
to deeper understandings in
our adult lives.
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While at times it is good and wholesome to return to the memories of a time when we
were just discovering the complex world that surrounded us, we need to recognize
the depth that Lent offers us today.
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The ashes are a symbol, not the
reality.
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If they remain only at the level of symbol, and one too often
without substance and meaning, we are
depriving ourselves of a genuine spiritual
experience that calls us to new understanding,
growth, and hope.
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On Ash Wednesday, when we catch a
glimpse of ourselves in the
mirror or of family and friends
with their smudge,
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will we see a symbol calling us back to our human reality
and even mortality?
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Will we see a symbol of Christ’s voice, calling us to
set aside our pessimism and
hopeless feelings to let the words
of the Good News break through?
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Will we see a symbol of
renewed life in the Risen Lord
which transforms us as individuals
and us as Church?
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I hope so and wish all of you a blessed and life-giving Lenten season.
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We hope you enjoyed this reflection,excerpted from the Living Faith article Ashes of a Special Wednesday.
If you would like to read other articles byFr. David Foxen, MSC, please visit the Living Faith page on our website. Commentswelcome! www.faith.misacor-usa.org
The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart USA Province305 S. Lake Street, PO Box 270 Aurora, IL 60507 (630) 892-2371 [email protected]
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Photo Credits• Slide 1: Photo from www.cruzblanca.org/hermanoleon• Slide 2: Photo from www.cruzblanca.org/hermanoleon• Slide 3: Photo by Jennifer Balaska via Wikimedia Commons• Slide 4: Photo © almir1968, via www.istockphoto.com• Slide 5: Photo by George Hodan via PublicDomainPictures.net • Slide 6: Photo from www.cruzblanca.org/hermanoleon• Slide 7: Photo by Petr Kratochvil via PublicDomainPictures.net• Slide 8: Photo from www.cruzblanca.org/hermanoleon• Slide 9: Photo © arlindo71, via www.istockphoto.com• Slide 10: Photo © bbeltman, via www.istockphoto.com• Slide 11: Photo by Petr Kratochvil via PublicDomainPictures.net
Photos are for illustration only.
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Photo Credits• Slide 12: Photo © EnginKorkmaz via www.istockphoto.com• Slide 13: Photo © shakzu via www.istockphoto.com• Slide 14: Photo © AlexaSava via istockphoto.com • Slide 15: Photo © PeterJSeager via www.istockphoto.com• Slide 16: Photo by Anna Langova via PublicDomainPictures.net• Slides 18-19: Background by Petr Kratochvil, via
www.PublicDomainPictures.net
Please note that any photos depicting people are of models.