A Cry for God’s Mercy and Forgiveness

  •   Wed, Feb 17 2021
  •   By Br John Malvino Alfonso OCD

February 17, 2021

Today, February 17, the Church observes Ash Wednesday. In the Roman Catholic Church, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, the season of preparation for the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.

At the beginning of the sixth century, out of a desire to have forty days of actual fasting (Sundays being non-fast days), the fast was begun on the preceding Wednesday. Henceforth this Wednesday marked the start of Lent. It has been an early custom that special penance for those who are guilty of serious sin should start at the beginning of Lent. In the beginning it was on the Monday after the first Sunday of the Lent. Later on it was shifted to Ash Wednesday. The penitents in those days were given penitential garment and ashes were sprinkled on them followed by the rite of expulsion from the Church. These special garments and ashes receive inspiration from Old Testament and gospel (Mt.11: 21) Tertullian (founder of Western Theology) and Cyprian (Theologian and Bishop) mention about this practice in their writings.

The rite of expulsion disappeared in the 10th century, but the rite of ashes remained. In 1901 Pope Urban II recommended this practice to all the churches. In the new missal this rite of ashes take place after gospel and homily. Today, the summons of Jesus in the Gospel according to St Mark, “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel.” (Mk.1:15) and traditional formula; “Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you will return.” (Gen.3:19) is used while putting ashes on the forehead. The imposition of ashes is penitential practice symbolizing our dependence upon God's mercy and forgiveness.

A note from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments with regard to distribution of Ashes in time of Pandemic says:

The Priest says the prayer for blessing the ashes. He sprinkles the ashes with holy water, without saying anything. Then he addresses all those present and only once says the formula as it appears in the Roman Missal, applying it to all in general: “Repent, and believe in the Gospel”, or “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”.

The Priest then cleanses his hands, puts on a face mask and distributes the ashes to those who come to him or, if appropriate, he goes to those who are standing in their places. The Priest takes the ashes and sprinkles them on the head of each one without saying anything.

As a church, we ponder and pray over the call given by Jesus. Jesus, in Gospel according to St Matthew, calls us to pray, to fast, and to give alms: ‘When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites,’ ‘when you fast, do not look gloomy,’ ‘when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing’ (Mt 6:5,16,3).

Prayer is that process of listening to and responding to God's daily call, sustains and nurtures our relationship with our triune God. According to St Teresa of Avila, prayer is an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us. Without prayer, personal and communal, this relationship is diminished, sometimes to the point of complete silence on our part. Pope Francis, in his Lenten message 2018 says, devoting more time to prayer, we enable our hearts to root out our secret lies and forms of self-deception, and then to find the consolation God offers.

Fasting, a very special form of penance, and Jesus' second call, has been a consistent part of our Catholic tradition. All of us have to deal with areas of servitude, whether in regard to smoking or alcohol consumption, misused sexuality, uncontrolled gambling, psychological hang-ups, spiritual obsessions, use of stimulants, immoderate use of the internet, excessive amounts of television watching, or preoccupations with other forms of entertainment like gossiping. By fasting and self-denial, by living lives of moderation, we have more energy to devote to God's purposes and a better self-esteem that helps us to be more concerned with the well-being of others.

Almsgiving, the third call of the Lord is to give alms. Jesus was always concerned about those who were poor and in need. He was impressed by the widow who, though having so little, shared her resources with others: "I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood" (Lk 21:3-4). Pope Francis, want us as Christians, to follow the example of the Apostles and see in the sharing of our possessions a tangible witness of the communion that is ours in the Church, to be a disciple of Christ means to live a life of charity. All of us are called to participate in this evangelizing work of transforming our world.

During this forty-day period each year, the Church unites itself to the mystery of Jesus in the desert. To prepare to celebrate the Easter mysteries, we devote time during this special season to pray, to perform works of charity, and to deny ourselves by fulfilling obligations more faithfully.

 

 

 
By Br John Malvino Alfonso OCD
Br John is a member of the Karnataka-Goa Province of the Order of Discalced Carmelites based at the Carmelite Monastery Margao-Goa.
To submit your article / poem / short story to Daijiworld, please email it to news@daijiworld.com mentioning 'Article/poem submission for daijiworld' in the subject line. Please note the following:

  • The article / poem / short story should be original and previously unpublished in other websites except in the personal blog of the author. We will cross-check the originality of the article, and if found to be copied from another source in whole or in parts without appropriate acknowledgment, the submission will be rejected.
  • The author of the poem / article / short story should include a brief self-introduction limited to 500 characters and his/her recent picture (optional). Pictures relevant to the article may also be sent (optional), provided they are not bound by copyright. Travelogues should be sent along with relevant pictures not sourced from the Internet. Travelogues without relevant pictures will be rejected.
  • In case of a short story / article, the write-up should be at least one-and-a-half pages in word document in Times New Roman font 12 (or, about 700-800 words). Contributors are requested to keep their write-ups limited to a maximum of four pages. Longer write-ups may be sent in parts to publish in installments. Each installment should be sent within a week of the previous installment. A single poem sent for publication should be at least 3/4th of a page in length. Multiple short poems may be submitted for single publication.
  • All submissions should be in Microsoft Word format or text file. Pictures should not be larger than 1000 pixels in width, and of good resolution. Pictures should be attached separately in the mail and may be numbered if the author wants them to be placed in order.
  • Submission of the article / poem / short story does not automatically entail that it would be published. Daijiworld editors will examine each submission and decide on its acceptance/rejection purely based on merit.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to edit the submission if necessary for grammar and spelling, without compromising on the author's tone and message.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to reject submissions without prior notice. Mails/calls on the status of the submission will not be entertained. Contributors are requested to be patient.
  • The article / poem / short story should not be targeted directly or indirectly at any individual/group/community. Daijiworld will not assume responsibility for factual errors in the submission.
  • Once accepted, the article / poem / short story will be published as and when we have space. Publication may take up to four weeks from the date of submission of the write-up, depending on the number of submissions we receive. No author will be published twice in succession or twice within a fortnight.
  • Time-bound articles (example, on Mother's Day) should be sent at least a week in advance. Please specify the occasion as well as the date on which you would like it published while sending the write-up.

Comment on this article

  • John, Mangalore

    Fri, Feb 19 2021

    Jesus on importance of the Sign of the Cross while receiving the ashes and repentance in a message to Valentina Papagna dated 14 Feb 2021... "Our Lord taught me, the Sign of the Cross is so important to receive because He died on the Cross for our Salvation. The Sign of the Cross is important, even for people who are not baptised or do not have much faith, even for people on Ash Wednesday. When they receive the Sign of the Cross on their forehead, if something was to happen to them, they are safe, because they have the Sign of the Cross. The Sign of the Cross is Victory, and it is for the Salvation of Souls. And what are they doing now? They are trying to dismiss the Cross. Sprinkling some ashes on the top of their heads, that won’t save them. The Cross is so powerful! These changes to the Distribution of Ashes offend God tremendously. People already offend Him in the Holy Eucharist which they receive unrepentantly. Each time I go to church, our Lord asks me to do reparation because the priests do not speak about repentance... Ref: https://valentina-sydneyseer.com.au/messages/

  • H.A. Dsouza, Damoh

    Fri, Feb 19 2021

    Getting forgiveness for sin is one of the greatest thing one can attain in this temporary life and Lord Jesus made it easy by sacrificing his life on cross. Lent season is the right time to over come all evils and receive abandant blessings from heaven. Thanks Mr.John (comment box)for heavenly messages earlier I had doubt about confessing sins to priest but it is authorised by lord Jesus himself.! Thanks Rev.Brother John for inspirational article.

  • John, Mangalore

    Wed, Feb 17 2021

    Jesus on Ash Wednesday and Lenten Season in a message to John Leary dated Sunday, February 14, 2021: (St. Valentine’s Day) Jesus said: “My people, in today’s Gospel I healed the leper of his leprosy, as he shouted ‘Unclean’. After I healed him, he was now ‘Clean’ again, and I asked him to go to the priest to be freed of his exile from society. I have told you how your sins are like a leprosy of the soul, and you need to come to the priest for Confession to be healed. Then with the priest’s absolution, you can have your sins cleansed from your soul, and be called ‘Clean’ again. Lent is a time for prayer and fasting that starts on Ash Wednesday. It is also a time of conversion when you come to confess your sins in Confession. People should come to Confession at least once a month to keep your soul clean all of the time. You may want to stop eating sweets, fast between meals, double your prayers, and avoid eating meat on Fridays of Lent. Use your Lenten Season to improve your spiritual life. On St. Valentine’s day you need to share your love with Me and your neighbors.” Ref: http://www.johnleary.com/index.php/?cat=3&order=DESC


Leave a Comment

Title: A Cry for God’s Mercy and Forgiveness



You have 2000 characters left.

Disclaimer:

Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that sending false messages to insult, defame, intimidate, mislead or deceive people or to intentionally cause public disorder is punishable under law. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.