Joel 2: 1-2, 12-17. Psalm 51: 1-18. 2 Corinthians 5: 20b – 6:10. Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-21

Blow the trumpet. Listen before it’s too late. Do you say one thing and do another? Do you show off so that others feel worse about themselves? Do you let other people’s opinions stop you from doing what you know in your heart is right? Who doesn’t?

Ash Wednesday is one of the best days of the year. It’s a great festival of being human. One day—who knows when?—you’re going to die. Maybe tomorrow. It’s time to get your life in order. How do you want to be remembered? What do you want to be going through your mind as you shuffle off this mortal doodah? Shame? Regrets? Now is the time to give up the things you do that eat away at your conscience. Give them up for all time, not just for Lent. Get your priorities right.

Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return. Now is the time to turn away from trivia towards what really matters: faith, hope, charity. And the greatest of these is charity. Love in all its forms. Love as nurturing, love as sharing, love as humility, love as warning. Love as justice without which there will never be peace. Getting our priorities right is the way to have life in abundance. It’s a great message on a great day.

I wish you all a very happy feast of Lent.