When God appears to people, almost every time, he gives them directions as to what to do. He calls them to action. What’s curious is that, so often, we don’t respond with action. We respond with hesitation.
When they called a fast in Joel’s time, it was meant to be immediate. People weren’t to stop for anything. Even if you’ve just been married, you were to leave the wedding chamber. Everything was to be done in that moment, so that you could respond with repentance to God. Whenever something bad happened, they believed it was because they had sinned, and when the locusts came in to devour their crops, they were certain that they needed to repent, and so they called a fast. They called for repentance from the whole group, and the whole group responded. God called, and they responded.
God called, and Paul responded as well, as God calls each of us to respond: as ambassadors of Christ. To be ambassadors of Christ means that we are the ones going out to make him present in the world, and that is where our energies need to be expended. Too often we expend our energies spinning on things we think we are supposed to be doing, when in fact the one thing we’ve been called to do is to make him present in the world, to bring the Eucharist we receive to bear upon the world in all of its brokenness, to bring mercy to bear.
Jesus has a great explanation for how we are to go about doing the various things that we might do as a Lenten observance. Yet the main thing here is, make sure you know why you’re doing it. Make sure you know why you’re giving up Brussels sprouts. Make sure you know what it has to do with being an ambassador for Christ, so that whatever you have chosen to do for Lent, it’s going to make you a better ambassador, more dedicated to the Word, to the mercy that has been shown you, so that you might show it to others.
Whatever we do needs to serve his will. He has called us to action, not to complacency. He has called us to more, so that he might live more profoundly in the world.
--Fr. Patrick Michaels,
Homily, Ash Wednesday,
February 14, 2024
Today is Ash Wednesday!
Don't forget to fast!
Image source: Bayeux Tapestry, Feast of William the Conqueror panel, https://www.oursundayvisitor.com/whats-the-point-of-fasting-during-lent/
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