March 5/Ash Wednesday
Have mercy on me, God, according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. ~ Ps 51.3
We arrive on the threshold of Lent, this Ash Wednesday 2025, perhaps stunned and a bit battle-weary. With daily political disruptions and system shocks and angry critiques swirling madly around us, we need a pause, a rest, a reset. And that is just what Lent offers us. As our eyes adjust from the verdant green of Ordinary Time to the darker penitential hues of Lent, each of us has the opportunity to pause and to go inward to the inner room of our souls. While it may be difficult to do, we might try to let politics occupy less of our attention and time, if we can, during this season of penance. Indeed, the proper place of engagement over the next forty days and forty nights is not Capitol Hill, nor cable news shows, nor X or FaceBook: it is our own hearts. In the quiet of prayer, we can reflect honestly and humbly on our thoughts, words, and deeds. We can admit to ourselves and to God that we have been heading in the wrong direction. We can acknowledge that it isn’t always someone else’s fault. These lines from The Song of Distance, a poem by the twentieth-century Carmelite nun and poet Jessica Powers, speak to this season: “Little One, come, I will teach you the song of distance / Whereby to flee this peacelessness and din. / Turn from the earth as stranger and begin.” If we can turn away from the world’s din and turn toward God, we will find ourselves enveloped in love and mercy. In the Hebrew verse, the words for “steadfast love” (chesed) and “abundant mercy” (rachamim) occupy the center, radiating out to touch each of us as we pray for healing and peace. It is a reassuring start to the weeks ahead.
Lord Jesus Christ, Shower your mercy on me, a sinner, this day and always. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030525.cfm
To hear “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind,” sung in Westminster Abbey, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1MN3chW1Hk
