22 February 2023 Ash Wednesday
Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.
From Joel 2: 12-18, NRSV
As we enter the season of Lent, we hear a proclamation from the prophet Joel in which he gives warning of approaching disaster. The people of Israel to whom he was speaking, had become rebellious and sinful. They had not heeded warnings from previous prophets and now Joel warns them that there is to be a day of reckoning – the “Day of the Lord”. There is a sense of urgency in his words as if the coming disaster could happen at any moment. Yet even at this eleventh hour, the people are promised that if they truly repent and turn to God wholeheartedly, then God will relent and judgement can be averted. They must show their repentance through acts of fasting and weeping but their actions are not just to be external – they must “rend their hearts” and make an inner conversion also.
- What impact do you think these words might have made on the people to whom Joel addressed them?
- What makes this a suitable reading for Ash Wednesday?
Pray for the grace to see what inner conversion you are called to this Lent.
