“But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving my be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you” (Mt. 6:3)
Bishop Scott Bullock
Homily from Ash Wednesday Mass
March 5, 2024
I guess I’m happy to say that I had a rather tame Fat Tuesday celebration yesterday. I treated myself to watching my favorite college basketball team play last night. That was my party and it was a very miserable party indeed. They didn’t play so well so that really makes it easy on me to give it up for Lent. Very disappointing.
But one of the things I noticed in watching the game was something that I think we’re used to seeing, it’s almost instinctual. I like to watch athletics like that because it is beautiful to watch the human form perform with such a high level of talent and agility and dexterity. So beautiful to see. But it’s tempting as the athlete to step over the line between praising God or the creator who gave us his gifts and praising myself. A few times during the game the dreaded opponents would, once they had done something extraordinary, either point to themselves as being greatest of all or maybe take the occasion to mock the opponents praising themselves. I guess they thought they were “hot stuff.”
Another thing I experienced yesterday has informed my reflection on Ash Wednesday. Today it was the gathering of our diocesan staff to burn palms from last year’s big old pile of palms which we burned. And the palms became “hot stuff.” But then what comes after “hot stuff?” Ashes. So for our life, in fact, is the message of the reception of ashes and this particular Liturgy, we’re told, “Remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return.”
In other words, after all the “hot stuff” of our lives — all the accomplishments, all the things that we’re proud of — the Church is reminding us don’t forget those things pass away. “You are dust and to dust you shall return.”
And so the Church also helps us to know then what this season is about. To remember that we are “dust and into dust we shall return,” and the way we do it is by self-denial. Did you hear what the opening prayer said for us just now? I love it every time it comes around each year. We prayed, “Grant the Lord that we may begin this with holy fasting, this campaign of Christian service.”
What is Lent? A campaign of Christian service. It can at first seem like, “Ohh it’s that season where I have to go without.” The Church is saying, “ohh no.” It’s much more exalted than that. It’s much more dignified than that. It’s a campaign of Christian service. In other words, our actions of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are Christian service. That helps me because it’s merely about me just going without, my motivations can kind of flag after about a week or less, right? But, if I’m doing it as Christian service that motivates me.
Of course we’re called to remember that we are “dust and unto dust we shall return,” the season to get to that deeper recognition is through Christian service. I like that think of that in two different ways. Christian service — serving Christ. So, the gestures that I offer during this season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, serve Jesus. That is to serve him by serving his people. Then also Christian service — as a Christian I serve.
So as we embark upon this, another experience of this most holy of seasons when we desire to be to humble ourselves, to remember that we’re not “hot stuff,” but that stuff that used to be hot is now on our foreheads to remind us that we are dust. But also, to remind us that we have one who is ready to exalt us in our loneliness, and only Jesus can do that.
Brothers and sisters, as we take on this season of Christian service, we asked the Lord to give us the desire in our hearts to indeed make it a season of Christian service through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, so we might be suitably prepared for the great celebration of our redemption which comes 40 days from now with the Pascal celebrations and the celebration of Easter.
Excerpts from the English translation of Lectionary for Mass ©1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation, (ICEL); Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, ICEL; All rights reserved. Music streamed with permission under ONE LICENSE, License #A-704305. All rights reserved. Simple English Propers by Adam Bartlett is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Based on a work at https://musicasacra.com/sep. All rights reserved.
