Tag: Ash Wednesday

“Return to me,” says the Lord for I am God

February 18, 2026
Ashes

In the first reading for today’s masses – Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent – we hear God calling to us in Joel 2:12 – 18: “Return to me with your whole heart.”

The act of returning is not “going to a place for the first time.” The act of returning is to go back to somewhere we’ve been before.

We are being invited – as our 40 day Lenten journey – to return to the God who loves us. Returning – we are not meeting God for the first time. At some point, then, we have all experienced being loved by God. For some, that may not be a conscious memory. But, we are being invited to experience God’s loving embrace going forward.

In the Bible, periods of 40 days/years was always a time of cleansing. The Israelites were sent by God to wander in the desert for 40 years for their disobedience before being allowed to enter into the promised land. Jesus fasted and was tempted in the desert for 40 days following his baptism……

Like the periods of cleansing in Biblical days, we fast and repent – amend our ways – for 40 days of cleansing during Lent. We amend ourselves by mending our relationships – relationships with one another and with God. Surely, this must also mean getting right within our own lives. The greatest commandments – we are told – are to love God and to love one another as we love ourselves. Thus, Lent – it would therefore seem – is a time to set about making everything right.

Most of us have enough self-awareness to know areas in our lives that need to be rendered right. Therefore, what we focus on rendering right is going to be different for each of us……. How we render our lives right is going to depend upon our own particular circumstances. For one person, it might be prayer to establish a relationship with God (FYI, prayer isn’t a uni-directional conversation – it’s about a two-way relationship, like a phone call. You wouldn’t call someone, tell them something, then hang up without giving the other person an opportunity to respond. Prayer should be the same way….we communicate to God and allow God to be tangibly present to us in response). For another person, rendering our lives right might be about fixing human relationships that are strained. Or, fixing the cluttered messes in our lives (several years ago, I knew a guy who decided that Lent needed to be about going back and sorting an unfinished mess involving an ex-wife – he offered to “take the short end of the stick” to get the matter wrapped up). Getting ourselves sorted out in whatever ways are necessary….. In the end, however, the larger number of people who truly engage in repairing – repentance – during Lent…..the more we will collectively participate in bringing about some measure of the Kingdom of God in our communities today (“on earth as in heaven”)……. And…. returning to the God who loves us (while we’re at it, who can we tangibly bring some love-in-action to this Lent?).

Kim Burkhardt blogs about faith at The Hermitage Within. Thank you for reading this faith blog and for sharing it with your friends. While you are here, please feel welcome to provide support to sustain this blog ($$).

Redemption, hope, Lent…..

February 13, 2026
Trinity candles

When I had a re-conversion experience in 2016 (that story is told here), I had a profound experience of being loved by God. Love brings about hope.

More recently, in my master’s in theology program we’ve been reading through the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (the Torah/Pentateuch), the four canonical gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles. In reading the gospels of Mark and Matthew, I started getting discouraged. I thought, “Such a high degree of righteousness, self-sacrifice, etc. is required to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I’ll never make it.” That discouragement is unnecessary, of course, because it is possible for us to do what’s presented to us – but I wasn’t seeing that. Further, I normally don’t take an interest in the future “Kingdom of Heaven” – I normally take the attitude that “Life is challenging. Forget about later – I need God now.” Then, someone changed my recent perspective yesterday – a reminder that our faith journey is meant to be done in community. We learn and apply charity in community. We learn to be faithful in community. Faith and spirituality are not a “me and God” endeavor – it’s socially about “us together in a faith community.”

What was said yesterday to change my perspective about feeling discouraged (“I’ll never make it to heaven – I’m not up for this righteousness business”)? A priest asked me about my theological studies. I told him, “We are trudging through the ‘who begat who’ in the Old Testament.'” He replied, “That’s important information, actually. You’ll notice that in Jesus’ lineage, it was mostly men who are listed in Genesis. But four of Jesus’ female ancestors are specifically listed.” That had also come up in class….. He reminded me, “All four of those women were pivotal. And, each of them did things that weren’t righteous. Jesus’ ancestors weren’t perfect – we don’t have to be either” [I forget how he worded this – something to the effect of these four women not being righteous].

All four of these women experienced some king of vulnerability. And, each of them did something unrighteous. Without them, there wouldn’t have been the historical lineage that brought us Jesus Christ.

One of the resources we’re using at school, Bible Odyssey, has this to say about these four women: “Tamar, daughter-in-law of Judah, was twice-widowed and childless. In Gen 38, she disguised herself, seduced her father-in-law, and conceived twin sons. Judah accused her of promiscuity, but ultimately even he recognized her as righteous. Rahab was a Canaanite prostitute, who was approached by Israelite spies (Josh 2, 6). By securing their safety she secured a future for herself and her family among the Israelites. Ruth was a Moabite and a childless widow (Ruth 1–4). She provided for herself and her mother-in-law by spending the night with their relative, Boaz, on the threshing floor. They married, and, with him, she carried on the family line. Bathsheba was already married when King David ordered for her to be brought to him. When she conceived David’s child, he had her husband killed and married her. Their first child died, but Bathsheba later ensured a place for herself and her family through their second son, Solomon (2 Sam 11–12; 1 Kgs 1).”

This comes back to what Christ said during his time on earth. “I didn’t come for the righteous. Those who are well don’t need a doctor. I came for sinners – the likes of the tax collectors and the prostitutes.”

Even Jesus’ ancestors did things that we wouldn’t want mentioned in the newspaper if we did those same things today. Yikes – Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba (Jesus’ ancestors) didn’t just get a current events news story for their actions that would be forgotten in weeks or years. Their activities are in print for all future generations to read! Yet, we got Jesus Christ among their future descendants…..

Hmmm….. As for my earlier comment about “Forget about the future Kingdom of Heaven, I need God now.” We can have good lives today. Christ actually intends for our current social fabric – and our own lives and the lives of the people around us – to better than the difficulties that we often experience. If we truly apply the “Be-Attitudes” that we heard about in the Sunday readings a couple weeks ago, we can each contribute to a better world today.

Ash Wednesday is coming up next week. For Lent this year, I’m going to continue giving up something that I’ve recently started working to give up. I’m giving up continued frustration over a previous life difficulty that I neither caused nor had any control over. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” It’s up to us to contribute to the world we want to live in. It is up to us to do “the heavy lifting.”

What are you giving up for Lent this year? In other words, what have you got to gain this year?

Kim Burkhardt blogs about faith at The Hermitage Within. Thank you for reading this faith blog and for sharing it with your friends. While you are here, please feel welcome to provide support to sustain this blog ($$).