February 17/Ash Wednesday
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion, wipe out my offenses. ~ Ps 51.3
We arrive on the doorstep of Lent depleted and weary. We have given up so much already, this year. Indeed, to those of us who have lost friends and relatives, who endure prolonged isolation, who struggle to see patients virtually or teach children on Zoom or go into work each day praying that we will stay safe, it feels as if we’ve been weeping and mourning, to borrow from today’s liturgy, almost since the last Ash Wednesday. The prospect of spending the next forty days and forty nights in sackcloth and ashes feels almost too much to bear. We need a word of encouragement. And right on cue, our psalmist enters to lift us up. Today, as we cross the threshold into this penitential season, we are met by the encircling arms of God’s mercy. Invoking a Hebrew word that weaves like a golden thread through the Psalter, the psalmist calls out, Ḥānnēnī, “have mercy.” To the worshipper, it is a familiar cry: Kyrie eleison, we intone in Greek as we confess our sins; miserere nobis, we plead in Latin, as we chant the Gloria or the Agnus Dei. And we make this cry trusting that God’s mercy will be there, unshakable, immovable, and abundant. Yes, our offenses are great: God’s compassion is greater. Yes, our transgressions are many: God’s goodness is infinite. What God asks of us these forty days is that we acknowledge where we’ve gone wrong and turn back. As we take a deep breath and embark on this season of reflection and repentance, we can do so in the full knowledge that the abundance of God’s mercy will always, always surpass the magnitude of human transgression.
Gracious, merciful God, Shower me with your compassionate love throughout the next forty days, unworthy though I am. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021721.cfm
To hear “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti_3-cSqdPc
Thank you for all the wisdom that you share in your Lenten and Advent reflections. I don’t know how you manage to convey so much with so few words. What a gift!
Thank you, Pringle, for the encouraging words.