On this gloomy Ash Wednesday, people flocked to the noon mass at the Cathedral to “get their ashes.” This tangible tradition, which gives visibility to our faith, brings many to attend mass even without Ash Wednesday being a day of obligation.
Bishop Michael Mulvey reminded the participants of God’s question to Adam and Eve in the garden after they ate the forbidden fruit, “Where are you?” It could be a guiding question, “Where are you on your faith journey?” Lent is an invitation to return to God with a whole heart, “to be ambassadors for Christ,” said the Bishop.
The upcoming 40 days can be a chance to grow closer to God – not being self-absorbed or drawing attention to us, but to draw attention to God. It is not “giving something up” but understanding what we need to let go of so that God can be everything.
“To build a more solid spiritual life, to know who we are is to know who God is, and to know who God is, we need to know who we are.” Often, so the Bishop, we want to have this or that, be this or that: “We live fake lives. But we have to be who we are: a true child of God, loving God with all our heart, our mind and our strength, and to love every neighbor as yourself.” He recommended rediscovering silence in these weeks of Lent, “just take some time, even 5 minutes, and be with God.”