Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart,

with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments,

and return to the LORD, your God.

For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness,

and relenting in punishment.

Perhaps he will again relent and leave behind him a blessing,

Offerings and libations for the LORD, your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion! proclaim a fast,

call an assembly; Gather the people,

notify the congregation; Assemble the elders,

gather the children and the infants at the breast;

Let the bridegroom quit his room and the bride her chamber.

Between the porch and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD,

weep, And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people,

and make not your heritage a reproach, with the nations ruling over them!

Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'”

Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land

and took pity on his people.

Responsorial Psalm

Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out

my offense.

Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.

Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

For I acknowledge my offense, and my sin is before me always:

“Against you only have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight.”

Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.

Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me.

Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Give me back the joy of your salvation, and a willing spirit sustain in me.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

A reading from the 2nd letter to the Corinthians

Brothers and sisters: We are ambassadors for Christ,

as if God were appealing through us.

We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,

so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace

of God in vain.

For he says:

In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.

Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

A reading from the Gospel of Matthew Jesus said to his disciples:

“Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them;

otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.

When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you,

as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets

to win the praise of others.

Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.

But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right

is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret.

And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites,

who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners

so that others may see them.

Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.

But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in

secret.

And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.

They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting.

Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.

But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden.

And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

The season of Lent prepares us for Easter.

In the 1st reading, the prophet Joel writes that the Lord calls to us, saying “return

to me with your whole heart.”

We have become separated from God by making other things more important than him.

We love TV, cupcakes, and good grades and these are all good things, but we should not

make them the most important part of our lives.

That is sin, and we need to return to God by making him number 1.

We are called to love the Lord our God above all things.

During Lent, we are also called to “repent.”

Repent means to think about your sin, to feel sorry, and to ask God for forgiveness.

God really loves you!

To be close to him, we have to change how we think and how we act.

In the Gospel, Jesus speaks about prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Praying is spending time speaking with God, bringing him into our thoughts and thanking

him for the good he has done in our lives.

Some great ways of praying are the Rosary, the Jesus prayer, and even praying in the

car.

Fasting means eating less of something or going without something.

For example, when we don't eat meat on Fridays in Lent, we are saying, “I want lots of

things like food and fun, and that's not bad, but what I want is less important than

what God wants for me.”

Almsgiving means giving our money or time to others.

We're all part of Christ's body, and what we have is meant to be used to help others.

In today's Gospel, Jesus calls us to do these good deeds for God only.

We shouldn't be good just so that other people will think we are really cool.

We should do good so that God will see and reward us.

This Lent, let's repent and do good because God has loved us so much!

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