CEC Service Schedule (with correction):
…Father Riley will lead us in Holy Eucharist March 1 and 22, 2020.
…Father Jefferson will lead us in Holy Eucharist March 8.
…March 15 and 29 services are scheduled to be Morning Prayer led by Mrs. Jane Barnett, 10am as usual.
ASH WEDNESDAY - A - 20 MATTHEW 6. 1-6, 16-21
Today we begin yet another Lenten journey. By now, we are all veterans of numerous Lenten seasons. We have made this journey before and we know what lies ahead.
The Prayer Book invites us to the observance of a Holy Lent. What makes our journey a holy one? The answer is most likely different for each of us. The invitation at the beginning of the liturgy, however, gives us a blueprint for making our Lenten journey a holy one if we will but follow it.
The invitation begins with an acknowledgement of our sins and our need for continued repentance. The ashes that are traced on our foreheads remind us of that as well as our mortal nature. These forty days are meant for us to draw nearer to God through the spiritual disciplines out lined in the invitation as we follow Jesus from the mountain of the transfiguration to
In today’s gospel, Christ comments on three basic aspects of spiritual living: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. In commenting on these three disciplines, Jesus tells us what not to do in terms of practicing our piety. That is, we are not to be like the “hypocrites.”
Interesting that the original meaning of “hypocrite” was actor. What Jesus is saying is that hypocrites were play-actors practicing piety for show, desiring to please men rather than God, wearing masks of compassion, for example in their alms-giving, while inwardly they were heartless.
Their reward was the applause of men and nothing more. Thus, when we give alms, our motive for giving is not for recognition, or self-satisfaction. We give in thanksgiving for all that God has given to us. God is not impressed with what others think of us, nor by what we think of ourselves. God will reward good deeds when they are based on pure motives of the heart.
Jesus, then, warns against praying hypocritically for that is to miss the spirit of prayer, which is intimate, personal communion with God that leads to the vision of his glory. Hypocrisy blocks out this communion and this vision. To partake of this communion, both silence and words are necessary.
True prayer is not telling God what he already knows and then telling him what to do about it, nor is it appearing pious in front of others. True prayer is humble, personal and sincere. Jesus goes on in this passage to give his disciples the example of true prayer - The Lord’s Prayer.
When we fast, Jesus says we are not to look dismal. That is to show off one’s fasting as a mere external display. Fasting is an aid to spiritual growth and teaches us to depend on God. The majority of the world’s Christians will be marked outwardly with the sign of the cross today with the ashes from the palms of a previous Lent. This is not done to merely show the world that we fasting, for most of us are not.
The cross is traced upon our foreheads as an outward sign of our mortality and our acknowledgement of our continued need of repentance. To repent is to return to God. The very message the prophet Joel, in today’s first lesson was trying to get across to God’s people. “Rend your hearts and not your garments,” the prophet said. “Return to the Lord.”
Fasting is not merely abstinence from food, but consists of self-denial in all areas of life that keep us from drawing near to God. Fasting is especially saying “no” to the ego that is always seeking public recognition. The heart of discipleship lies in disentangling ourselves from the chains of earthly things, and attaching ourselves to God.
We are all pilgrims on a spiritual journey to God. It is a lifetime road we are called to travel. We live and travel between the two Advents; Christ’s coming as an infant in a manger and His second coming in Glory. The road we are called to travel between these two Advents is a Lenten one.
We are to take up our cross and follow in Christ’ most blessed footsteps. Like the prophet Joel predicted there will be days of darkness and gloom. There will also be times of joy and light. We will all face our own Good Fridays as well as being surprised by resurrection.
The word disciple has the same root as discipline. Thus, we need to discipline ourselves spiritually by learning to practice true piety, which enables us to draw nearer to God. Our practice of piety is for no other reason than to glorify God.
When we stumble and fall, and we all do, we need to recognize our failures and acknowledge them before the Lord, that is, to repent and return to God. He will create and make new hearts within us if we will turn and lift up our hearts to Him.
In our turning to God, we learn to live the resurrected life in Christ. By focusing our spiritual habits, and our priorities on our relationship to God our direction is assured.
That doesn’t mean that our journey will be an easy or a pleasant one, as
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