"A Day of Prayer for a Listening Church:" Ash Wednesday 2013

Every year on Ash Wednesday Tobar Mhuire opens up its doors for the whole day and welcomes all those seeking a place for prayer. We have a formal opening and closing prayer service, a reading (or singing) of a lament psalm to mark each hour, and continuous adoration of the Blesses Sacrament. This year the day was entitle "A Day of Prayer for a Listening Church," which fits into our Lenten theme of storytelling. It was a day for us, as a Church, to listen to God's story.

Kate and I took on the responsibility of planning the opening prayer service, and we really enjoyed the experience. We wove together more tradition elements, like Taize style singing, and more creatively elements, like ending the service with the opportunity for those present to illustrate how their individual story fits into the ultimate story of salvation. (Yep, crayons in the chapel!) And, yours truly gave the reflection!

Enjoy my thoughts on God's story, our stories, and the words spoken as we receive our ashes!

"Today is very special day in the life of the Church. Today marks the beginning of Lent. Through these next 40 days we are going to be remembering and retelling the story of Jesus’ last days.  It is a suspenseful story full of unexpected twists and turns. It is a story of broken relationships, a story of betrayal, a story of heartbreak, but ultimately, it is a story of love. It is the story of God’s great and unending love for humanity. It is the story of God’s only begotten Son who offers his life so that we might gain salvation. In my opinion, it is the greatest love story ever told.

For those of you who read our brochure, you would know that we entitled today as “A Day of Prayer for a Listening Church.” Today is an opportunity to listen to God’s story and allow ourselves to be inspired, refreshed, and challenged by it. God’s story is the story of salvation. It is the story of our salvation.

What I like to call the greatest love story ever told, theologians like to call Salvation History.  What is Salvation History? Well, you already know the answer…because you just heard it. It is the creation story, it is the story of the Ark, of Abraham and Sarah, of Moses. It is the story of the prophets and the early Church. Salvation history incorporates all of the Bible stories that we hold dear to our hearts. Ultimately, it is the ongoing story of the relationship between God and humanity.  

The climax of the story is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, I use the word climax intentionally, because it is not the end. While in a few weeks we will celebrate Good Friday and reverence the cross on which our salvation was won, it is not say that the story is over.  There is no question about God’s promises, salvation has been won, but the story continues to unfold around us. Just as the Old and New Testament figures had their role to play in salvation history, so do we.

What an honour, to have a part to play in the story of salvation. Think about that for a second. Maybe even say quietly to yourself, “I have a part to play in the story of salvation.” Let the magnitude of that statement sink in.

When I was writing this reflection, that statement caught me off guard. I never thought about how my very existence is part of the story of salvation, or at least I never thought about it in those exact words.  As I let myself take in that statement, I had so many thoughts running through my head. First, I was amazed that I would have my own unique contribution to make. Then, I got all excited as I thought about what I am going to do and what my role is going to look like. And then, I panicked, “What can I do?”

That is a serious soul-searching question, “What is my part to play in the story of salvation?” And, it began to overwhelm me. I found solace in a somewhat surprising place. I found solace in the words that are spoken as we receive our ashes. “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”  It is that simple. Every day I need to wake and decide to turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel. It’s also that challenging. Every. Day. I need to wake up and decide to turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.

By choosing to turn away from sin we open ourselves up more completely to God. But not allowing sin to creep into our lives we create a space or a home for God in our heart. And as for begin faithful to the Gospel, just think of the golden rule. “Love the Lord your God will all your heart, all your mind and all your soul. And love your neighbour as yourself.” If we take this command seriously, every moment of our lives provides us with an opportunity to be faithful to the gospel.

The words spoken as we receive our ashes can be our starting point, but where we end up is the exciting part! Just think about it. What if tomorrow morning we all woke up and tried our very hardest to turn away from sin and tried to the best of our ability live as faithfully to the Gospel in our everyday lives, where would we end up? It’s hard to say, but what I do know is that we all would do amazing things; we all would do different amazing things.

We all have different gifts, talents, interests and careers. That is what makes us special. That is what gives us our own unique story. Thinking about our lives as a part of salvation history is both humbling and energizing. It gives us purpose. It gives our lives meaning beyond the 50, 80, or 90 years that we are blessed with. Our life stories are important and necessary parts the bigger story of the Church and the even bigger story of salvation.

We all have our own unique part to play. So what is yours going to be?"