When I was in junior high, there was a particular excitement about St. Valentine’s Day. It was a day you might reveal a crush on a classmate or discover you had a secret admirer. As an awkward seventh grader, I had little chance of a secret admirer, but the hope of one was still tantalizing.
Created in the image of a Trinitarian God, we are wired for loving relationships. It is fitting that Ash Wednesday and St. Valentine’s Day fall on the same day this year. In God, we discover we both have an admirer who loves us deeply, and we are invited to return that love. Another great advantage of these days overlapping is that my seventh grade daughter will go to school with ashes on her forehead, hopefully deterring any love-struck boys.
As St. Valentine’s Day is the start
of many love stories, Ash Wednesday begins the Lenten season which culminates in the greatest love story of all time, the Paschal Mystery.
In this story, God the infinite creator of the universe, loves His people as His beloved children. Yet through their own fault, they are at risk of being eternally separated from Him. In an unimaginable act of love, God becomes one of them, suffers, dies, and rises to conquer the sin that separates them from Him. A valiant lover willing to do anything to save His beloved. The Hallmark Channel has nothing compared to the Bible.
Ash Wednesday is a unique day in our year. Our ashes are a public recognition
that we are those fallen children seeking God’s mercy.
This ancient penitential practice is a Jewish tradition recalling the Fall in Genesis. As we receive the ashes, the priest says, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” These are the words God spoke to Adam after the Fall (Gn 3:19). We too are challenged to grapple with the gravity of our sin and its consequences. However, unlike Adam, we have been blessed to know the completion of God’s plan in Jesus. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23).
Despite our brokenness, God still says: be mine. Such overwhelming love deserves nothing less than a full and joyful response — one that leads us to live differently, turning away from selfishness and sin. During Lent, Catholics are invited to participate in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These are incredible tools to help us lay down the idols that seek to capture the Lord’s place in our heart, whether they be self, food, money, pleasure, or entertainment.
The prophet Joel announces, “Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.” (Jl 2:12-13).
What’s more, we do not have to face these challenges alone. As a Church, we draw strength and give witness to one another. Together, we fast from meat on Fridays, pray Stations of the Cross in our parishes, serve the needy, and observe holy days. We also find forgiveness, hope, and strength in God’s grace poured out in the confessional. God has given us every tool to draw near to Him.
This Ash Wednesday, delight in your admirer. Your ashes are sweeter than chocolate, for your plea rests in our merciful God. And this Lent, earnestly prepare your heart to enter the greatest love story.