THE CARDINAL VIRTUES OF LENT (HOMILY FOR ASH WEDNESDAY
The Cardinal virtues of Lent (Homily for Ash Wednesday Joel 2:12-18. Psalm 51:3-4,6-6ab,12-13,14,17. 2 Corinthians 5:20--6:2. Matthew 6:1-6,16-18. Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season. The season of Lent prepares us for Easter, the greatest feast of the liturgical year. During this season, the Church's liturgy unceasingly invites us to purify our souls and to begin again. God invites us in the first reading to come to Him. ""Even now," says the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning and tear your hearts and not your garments" (Joel 2:12). We are to come to the Lord with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning, in fact, with a sincere repentant heart from our sins, and we will receive His mercy. No matter how terrible our sins may be, they are not big or horrible enough to consume God's mercy for us. As the priest places ashes on our forehead, he reminds us of the words of Genesis. A...