Ash Wednesday 2013 and Resources for Lent

 

Sancte Pater, sic transit gloria mundi

(("Holy Father, so passes worldly glory!")

These words, thus addressed to the pope during the old papal coronation ceremony, served as a reminder of the transitory nature of life and earthly honors)

Popes come, and Popes go; although our normal experience as Church is that they die in office, but the liturgical calendar moves on, marking God's time not ours. And despite the fact that he may be stepping down on February 28th, Pope Benedict XVI gave two very thought provoking addresses today about Ash Wednesday and Lent, one at the weekly General Audience and also the homily at Mass in St Peters for the imposition of ashes (which was transferred from Santa Sabina).

If you want to see a series of short videos on the cermonies today check out Rome Reports.

"Overcoming the temptation to place God in submission to oneself and one’s own interests or to put Him in a corner and converting oneself to the proper order of priorities, giving God the first place, is a journey that every Christian must undergo. "Conversion", an invitation that we will hear many times in Lent, means following Jesus in so that his Gospel is a real life guide, it means allowing God transform us, no longer thinking that we are the only protagonists of our existence, recognizing that we are creatures who depend on God, His love, and that only by “losing" our life in Him can we truly have it. This means making our choices in the light of the Word of God. Today we can no longer be Christians as a simple consequence of the fact that we live in a society that has Christian roots: even those born to a Christian family and formed in the faith must, each and every day, renew the choice to be a Christian, to give God first place, before the temptations continuously suggested by a secularized culture, before the criticism of many of our contemporaries."

"In this time of Lent, in the Year of the faith, we renew our commitment to the process of conversion, to overcoming the tendency to close in on ourselves and instead, to making room for God, looking at our daily reality with His eyes. The alternative between being wrapped up in our egoism and being open to the love of God and others, we could say corresponds to the alternatives to the temptations of Jesus: the alternative, that is, between human power and love of the Cross, between a redemption seen only in material well-being and redemption as the work of God, to whom we give primacy in our lives. Conversion means not closing in on ourselves in the pursuit of success, prestige, position, but making sure that each and every day, in the small things, truth, faith in God and love become most important."

"Dear brothers and sisters, we begin our Lenten journey with trust and joy. May the invitation to conversion , to "return to God with all our heart", resonate strongly in us, accepting His grace that makes us new men and women, with the surprising news that is participating in the very life of Jesus. May none of us, therefore, be deaf to this appeal, also addressed in the austere rite, so simple and yet so beautiful, of the imposition of ashes, which we will shortly carry out. May the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church and model of every true disciple of the Lord accompany us in this time. Amen!"

 

Some resources for Lent:

• Blue Eyed Ennis - I am actually exhausted trying to keep up with Phil as she as a whirlwind of reflections and resources for Lent.
• Aggie Catholic has their famous Lent Megalink roundup available
• The Anchoress has a round up of links
• The Path of Life - Ashes to Ashes 
• The Jesuits have been busy providing resources for Lent. Click on the link in our left hand side sidebar. You can also check out here, here and here.
• The Deacons Bench homily for Ash Wednesday
• Godzdogz - Lenten series of reflections starting today
• Remember you are dust: Lent and Creation.
• Word on Fire Lent Reflections
• iBenedictines - Ash Wednesday
• Dominicana - Perhaps in Ashes