Why is it that Ash Wednesday always seems to pounce on me with little warning? This was especially true this year here in San Lucas. We volunteers speak about a sort of time warp that happens here, where three weeks can feel like three days. Ash Wednesday definitely fit that mold. I had known that it was coming, yet suddenly there I was in church being marked with ashes.

     I like Ash Wednesday. I enjoy Lent. I appreciate having this time, this forty-day retreat to focus on who I am as a person and as a Christian. Of course, I need to be doing that all year, but there is something special about these days. Perhaps it is the concentrated focus on where I am in my relationship with God and others. Perhaps it is because, with these forty days, the Triduum celebrations that follow (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday), and the great celebration of Easter, I can see in expanded detail the process I need to be keeping in mind throughout the rest of the year.

     The Parroquia had two Masses: one in the morning for the school and one in the evening. I normally go to the school Masses anyway, so I went in the morning.

     As always, the kids sang their lungs out throughout the service. (As always, I forgot to bring my song sheet to follow along.) As always, Father Greg did an amazing job of engaging the kids’ attention and mine. He spoke about using these days to do what needs to be done in order to help God make me a better person. Without griping, without complaining, and without excuses, do what needs to be done.

     The day came upon me suddenly; I hope the spirit of the season lingers within me. I know I am not perfect – I know, as I think we all know about ourselves, exactly what needs to be changed and molded. When I accepted the ashes on my forehead, I made a commitment to truly examine myself, to let myself be examined by God, to enter into Jesus’ forty days in the desert, to walk with the Jews to the Promised Land. I am now committed to turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel.

     These are things that require me to be true to myself. I pray that I will be mindful of who God has created me to be. I pray that when Easter arrives I will be ready to celebrate and experience the peace and joy of the Resurrection of Jesus, my Lord and my God.