Guest Meditations:
O God, You know how fragile is our human nature, wounded as it is by sin.
Help Your people to enter upon the lenten journey strengthened by the power of Your Word, so that we may be victorious over the seductions of the Evil One and reach the paschal feast in the joy of the Holy Spirit.
Italian Sacramentary
As some may be surprised to learn, Ash Wednesday is not the beginning of Lent, but only the beginning of the lenten fast.
The liturgical time of Lent begins on the following Sunday, and here the liturgy has a different character. It is more ancient and therefore more objective. The structure of the Sunday Mass is loftier and more noble in its splendidly simply architecture. Nothing is said about how a sinner feels, and the question of any possible conflict between the mercy and justice of God is not raised. All is bathed in the same pure light, the light of the wilderness where Christ the Lord fasts in solitude and is tempted by the devil.
The dramatic, medieval rites of Ash Wednesday may perhaps make a stronger and more immediate appeal to our feelings. The Mass of the first Sunday however leads us deeper into the real mystery of Lent, uniting us more profoundly and more directly with the Christ Who, praying and fasting in us, will purify us and offer us together with Himself to the Father in the glory of His Easter victory.
Thomas Merton
What Jesus is beginning is the transformation of this world. That is why those in charge of this world as it was ended up killing him.
William Placher
Introduction:
On Ash Wednesday the church began its journey toward baptismal immersion in the death and resurrection of Christ. This year, the Sundays in Lent lead us to focus on five covenants God makes in the Hebrew Scriptures and to use them as lenses through which to view baptism. First Peter connects the way God saved Noah’s family in the flood with the way God saves us through the water of baptism. The baptismal covenant is made with us individually, but the new life we are given in baptism is for the sake of the whole world.
Martin Luther, renewer of the church, died 1546
Though he began his adult church life as a simple Augustinian monk, Luther challenged the abuses he saw in the church, and his work eventually led to the Protestant Reformation. Luther’s accomplishments included liturgical reform, translation of the Bible, and creation of the Small and Large Catechisms.
Genesis 9:8-17
Today’s reading centers on the conclusion to the flood story. The Lord destroys the earth by flood, except for Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark. Yet, divine destruction, because of human sinfulness, gives way to divine commitment. As in the first creation (Genesis 1), God blesses the human community and establishes a covenant with all creatures.
Please Pass the Psalter: Psalm 25:1-9
This individual lament is again in the acrostic style, with each verse beginning with a subsequent letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The first seven verses are a series of requests, with motivation for God to act in the form of God’s attributes. The key to this complaint is “your ways,” which the author asks to know and observe.
1 Peter 3:18-22
In this reading, the author emphasizes God’s saving action on behalf of Noah, his family, and the creatures. This saving presence continues to be manifested through Christ in the act of baptism.
Mark 1:9-15
The Spirit that comes upon Jesus at His Baptism sustains Him when He is tested by Satan so that He might proclaim the gospel of God’s reign.