40 day retreat - ash wednesday 2019

Today as in the day of our Baptism and confirmation we will be sealed with a cross on our foreheads. The only difference is, when we were baptized and confirmed we were sealed with the oil of Chrism.  This time we will be sealed with ashes mixed in oil. The parallelism is significant, for the season of Lent which we begin today is in fact a reexamination, a looking back as to what we have done with the grace of baptism that was given us.  Gin-ano mo ang bunyag nga nabato mo sang una, gin-ano mo subong nga tuig?  Have we lived faithfully our baptismal promises?  Have we become better Christians, better catholics?  Have we loved God above all and loved our neighbor as ourselves?  Have we been faithful to our vocation and mission in life?  

We are given 40 days to look back so that after forty days we can renew our baptism once more on Easter Sunday with the new water sprinkled on us.  Each of us will have to make our own personal retreat, for the 40 days of lent recalls the 40 days and nights when God destroyed sinful humanity at the time of Noah; the 40 years when the Israelites were cleansed in the desert to prepare them for the promised land; the same 40 days and 40 nights when God revealed his will and his law to Moses in Mt. Sinai; the same 40 days and nights when Jesus fought the devil and temptation to prepare him for his mission.  

Every Lent is our own personal retreat, a personal assessment of our relationship with God and the ashes signify the attitudes that should prevail in us in this sacred season – for the ashes signify humility to confront our true selves, repentance from our failures, and lastly continuous prayer that should permeate this season.  As we start this retreat today, let these ashes and let our fasting and abstinence this day signify our resolve to be sincere in this 40-day encounter with the Lord and with ourselves.