As we begin this holy season, many of us search for an Ash Wednesday reflection to help us enter Lent with clarity and purpose. Lent is not simply dates on the calendar. It is a grace-filled invitation to return to the Lord with our whole heart, to rediscover our dependence on Him, and to begin again.
This year, Fr. Peter Grover, OMV invites you to approach Lent as a kind of spiritual marathon. In his new booklet, 40 Short Lenten Reflections: A Journal to Get You to Easter, he draws on Scripture, daily life, and the world of long-distance running to help us train the heart, persevere with discipline, and cross the finish line of Easter renewed in grace.
You can purchase the full booklet in paperback on Amazon or a digital copy on the OMV Bookstore, and follow along each day from Ash Wednesday to Easter.
Ash Wednesday Reflections to Begin Lent
We are sharing the first three reflections from 40 Short Lenten Reflections: A Journal to Get You to Easter to begin your Lenten journey.
Ash Wednesday: Know Why You Are Doing This
When I wake up on race day, the first thought I have is “Why am I doing this? Do I not have something better to do?” So, it is Ash Wednesday, and we are asking the same question.
In the Gospel, Jesus goes into the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. I’m thinking, doesn’t Jesus have something better to do than hang out in the desert and have a theological conversation with the devil? Are there not more pressing needs in the world? What about the woman who has been hemorrhaging for twelve years? While she is running around spending all her money on one doctor after another, Jesus is in the desert. And then there is a young boy who is possessed by a demon. His dad tells us that the demon threw him into the water to drown him and then into flames to burn him. While this boy suffers seizures and torment every day, Jesus is hanging out in the desert. There is also a man with a withered hand. You can’t work with a dead hand. You can’t even hold your child with a withered hand, yet another day in his life ticks by, while Jesus is in the desert for forty days and forty nights. So why is Jesus in the desert? Because Jesus is spending time with His Father. Everything Jesus does depends on this relationship. It is the same with us.
When we live a life that is absolutely dependent on God, people around us and the world around us are blessed. That is why Jesus was able to do such great works for others.
So here we are on earth buying, selling, building, and doing our thing, and all of a sudden it is Lent for 40 days. We begin the 40 days with Ash Wednesday with the words: “Remember that you are dust and unto dust, you shall return.” In other words, the clock is ticking, and we are going to die someday. At that moment, we are absolutely totally dependent on God. When we spend 40 days dependent on God, you will see. God will bless the world and the people around us. Great things happen when we need God.
Thursday After Ashes: Fasting
There are no meal breaks during a marathon, just water and a few packets of gels. The greatest pain I feel toward the end of the marathon is not my legs but my stomach. You fast during the marathon.
If you notice in the Bible, there is one feature that is highlighted when it comes to fasting. Every year I spend a few days before Lent thinking of some form of penance. Each year I do something under the category of self-improvement such as give up coffee, attend a course or seminar, limit my internet, go to bed early, etc. One year I did the seven-minute burpee challenge with one of the seminarians. It was pure suffering, especially the seventh minute. It was quick and costly, yet I could feel my body get stronger each day. I started with 50 in seven minutes and by Easter I was doing over 100 burpees in seven minutes. It was nice to see how I progressed in 40 days.
Most of us sacrifice something that will benefit our lives. Yet, Biblical fasting is different. It is fasting that benefits not so much ourselves, but the people around us. The Bible sees fasting as an opportunity to help others. Such examples are reconciling with people who hurt you, assist the needy, visit the forgotten and the unfortunate, lend without expecting payment back, or turn the other cheek. This is more biblical than self-help sacrifices so consider a more profitable approach to Lent this time around.
Friday After Ashes: Discarding Bad Habits
Every great journey begins on the throne. Before you walk out to the starting line of a marathon, you will walk by a sea of port-a-potties and long lines of people in front of them. This is one of the rituals of a race. Discharge the waist, and you will have a good race. So, how do you get rid of the bad in your life as you get started on your Lenten adventure? You replace it with something better. One day, I was in front of my computer checking out YouTube tutorials, and I said to myself, “Do I really have this much time to waste? Do I really have all this extra time?” I went back to school. Now I have no time. I complained to my office manager, and she said, “Well, at least it keeps you out of the bar rooms and pool halls.” I replaced wasting time with something better, a degree.
I know a married couple. They are always together and happy. How is it possible that they have been married for so long and they are the best of friends? I will tell you how because they both fly fish. Whenever there is an insurmountable problem, marriage disharmony, or contention, they grab the fly rods and life is good again. That is the way to get rid of the bad. Replace it with something better. Take a look at the first verse of the Bible. God made the first verse important so we would not forget it. We may forget what Isaiah said in Chapter 37:18, but we will never forget the first verse of Genesis. There it says, “God saw it was dark and created the light”. So how did he rid the world of darkness? Did he go to war with the darkness? No. Did he engage in a confrontation with darkness? No. It was actually easy; he walked over to the wall switch and turned the light on. He replaced darkness with light. I suspect that if there is a message in the first verse of the Bible, then we’d better listen to it. So, if there is something in your life that prevents you from running your best race, replace it with something better.
Lent as a Spiritual Marathon
Lent is a beginning, and Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the beginning. It is the starting line, not the finish.
As you continue these 40 days, we invite you to walk this journey with the Oblates of the Virgin Mary. You can find our full schedule of Lenten Masses and other Lenten resources on the St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine website.
If these Ash Wednesday reflections have stirred your heart, we encourage you to continue the journey with Fr. Peter’s 40 Short Lenten Reflections, available in paperback on Amazon and through the OMV Bookstore.
Let us run this race with perseverance, dependent on the Father, strengthened through sacrifice, and filled with the light of Christ.
May this Lent be a season of grace for you.
Thank you for sharing insight to help me begin the season of Lent.
Of course, God bless. – OMV