Father Kleppner - February 13th 2005
Ash Wednesday
How can the season of Lent be a productive, helpful time, when it starts out with a symbol of ashes? Ever since the fifth century, many Christians have marked the beginning of these forty days with some use of ashes. In doing so they are in line with traditions that go back to early Biblical history. Very early scriptures speak of having ashes on your body as a symbol of sorrow, regret, penitence and even shame. This kind of absolute self-abasement does not seem appropriate for anyone who seeks life fulfillment. Ashes speak not of life but of death. If there is a fire and a dwelling place is reduced to ashes, there is nothing left. If Lent is to be a time for building a better life, a good life, don’t we need to have some sense of self worth and dignity to begin to build on? Ash Wednesday is a time for eliminating the things in our lives that deserve to die. Farmers may cut down old stalks or burn over fields before planting a new crop. We need a time to burn over and get rid of the things that make our life unproductive. These may be “sinful” habits we have picked up, or they may simply be unproductive. For example, being a “couch-potato” may not be sinful, but it does not provide much of good for life. This day is not a time for completely “wiping the old slate clean”. There is much now in all of our lives that is good and worth keeping. Lent is an occasion for clearing out what holds us back. Only as we eliminate the unworthy can we find what is truly good. God wants us all to have a good life. Use the symbol of ashes to mark what is harmful. Then wipe them off, so your life can be clean and productive.
Lenten Meditation for - First Sunday in Lent
The season of Lent encourages us to live a good, a better life. But what is “the good life”? Is it one of wealth and comfort, enjoying a lot of this world’s “goods”? Or is it a saintly life of being good and doing good? From the early laws given to Moses up to Jesus’ Beatitudes, God was providing the ingredients that would make life truly good, both in the sense of being satisfying and being in line with what God intends for us. What is good? We know that God is good. Is our own goodness found in being “God-like”? Let’s be realistic; perfection is beyond our reach. God has infinite wisdom, but our own reasoning is often wrong. The best guide for goodness that is humanly possible is to be found in Jesus Christ. Here we see God in human form, dealing with mortal frailties and limitations. Jesus lived the good life. Yet, he had no earthly possessions or position. He did not even have a place to lay his head. When his disciple wanted the prestige of sitting at his “right hand”, he rebuked them. Jesus’ good life was one of responsiveness to God’s leading and living with God’s spirit. His very presence was healing. Have you ever thought how well Jesus exemplified what the Beatitudes call for? His “good” life was one of meekness, a humble spirit, seeking righteousness and peace, even enduring persecution for God’s sake. We my be tempted to ask, “Was all this really a ‘good life’ for him?” The answer is, “A good life is a life of fulfillment, becoming all that we have the potential for being.” Jesus - and we - live our lives to the fullest when we work toward being our personal best. |
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