ASH WEDNESDAY - Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 103:8-14; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 - 21 February 2007

ASH WEDNESDAY - Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 103:8-14; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 - 21 February 2007 - A homily given by The Rev. Peter Munson for St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, Boulder Colorado

Lent - The Double Journey

On this day, during our Ash Wednesday liturgy, we are all invited to the observance of a holy Lent, as the priest says these words:

“Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful, were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in

-mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. And to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.” (The Book of Common Prayer, pp. 264-265)

After a period of silence, we all come forward and receive ashes on our foreheads in the shape of a cross, and we hear these words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (taken from Genesis 3:19)

The new Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katherine Jefferts Schori, has asked all congregations in the Episcopal Church, as part of our Lenten journey, to pray for the fulfillment of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), and to make a special offering to support Episcopal Relief and Development’s efforts to fight deadly poverty in the world. (For more on the MDGs, go to www.one.org or www.er-d.org) The Presiding Bishop’s request goes hand-in-hand with our Church’s decision, at its 75^th General Convention in 2006, to make the Millennium Development Goals a mission priority over the next three years. Last year, we at St. Ambrose responded to a Lenten challenge to raise $4,000 in support of the work of Episcopal Relief and Development, and we met that goal. I think our goal this year should be $5,000. But a little more about Lent...

As we are invited to enter into this holy season of self-examination, I think it almost goes without saying that we are being invited by the Church, and by God, to make an inward journey. Lent is a time to take stock of our lives, both individually and as a church, and ask the questions: How am I doing? How are we doing? How does my life align with the life of Jesus? Where do I need to repent - to turn around, because I’ve been traveling in the wrong direction - and come back to God?

Lent is not only a time for this inward journey, though. It is also a time to look outward, for the Gospel of Jesus Christ calls us to not only love God with all our heart and soul and mind, but also to love my neighbor as myself. (Matthew 22:37-40)

Lent is a time to look at my own relationship with God and see what needs attention, or what is in a state of neglect. But it is also a time to look at my relationships with others - my family members and friends, co-workers, fellow church members, even people in other parts of the world - and assess how I am doing in those relationships. Am I loving others as Jesus loves me? Along the lines of the Isaiah reading for today, am I as concerned with justice being done as God is? Will my fasting and prayer bring me closer to God and closer to those who suffer injustice, oppression, malnutrition, homelessness, or loneliness? Will my offerings of money and service only be shared within a very small circle, or will my awareness be expanded in such a way that I see and respond to the needs of those who are in war-torn parts of the world, and to those who suffer from AIDS and other deadly diseases?

Jesus challenges us to align inside beliefs and values with our outside actions, to be people who live out our faith with integrity. As we strive to bring forth this alignment in our lives, with God’s help, intentionally entering into the journey of Lent is a great way to start. For in the invitation to observe a holy Lent, we are asked to make the inward journey and the outward journey - to attend to the vertical dimension of the cross, our relationship with God, and to the horizontal dimension of the cross, our relationships with others. That is also what the Presiding Bishop is asking us - to combine the journey inward with the journey outward.

We are all unique individuals, and God, by his grace, and by the guidance of his Holy Spirit, will reveal to each one of us what needs attention, not only in our interior lives, but also in the lives we live out in the world. May we receive strength and inspiration from the Lord as we make this double journey, and may our Lent be a holy one, as we discover our Lord to be very present to us. Amen.