Jl 2:12-18 | Ps 51 | 2 Cor 5:20-6:2 | Mt 6:1-6, 16-18

The word “Lent” comes from an Old English word for spring. Today, no matter where we are in the world, or what the weather is doing outside, in the Church and, it is to be hoped, within each of us, spring is coming. This springtime is a renewal of life: a new beginning, the revival of freshness and hope in our life with each other in Christ, the radiance of our baptismal white.

Throughout this Lenten season, I would love for all of us to constantly ponder and reflect upon the “radiance of our baptismal white,” and what it will take for our lives to correspond with that reality.

To get to spring we have to go through the sometimes gray and barren look of winter or late winter. The ashes we receive today, made from burnt palms and olive branches blessed from the year before, are a good reminder that spring grows from gray to green. The yearly return of Lent tells us, as does what you and I see in the mirror, that change is urgent and not to be put off.

Reminders about urgency are often what get us going and make us “get serious” about what is at hand. “Even now,” says the Lord, “return to me with your whole heart” (Jl 2:12). Saint Paul puts it this way: “Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2). We hasten the spring in our hearts by watering and cultivating them with more regular and heartfelt prayer, with practical care for the poor and less fortunate around us, and with more disciple in our lives. To paraphrase Saint Paul: do not receive the grace of God offered in this season in vain.

“Now is a very acceptable time!”