"Ash Wednesday"

February 16, 2010
Year for the Priest

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Contrasts are always amazing. Cooks tantalize the taste buds with a sweet and sour mixture; artists use light and darkness to highlight their subjects; comedians will use the opposite of what is expected for a laugh.

New Orleans has been celebrating Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) since the Saints won the Super Bowl. The city, during Mardi Gras, is usually a town out of control with revelry and merriment. People wear masks and dress in costumes, pretending they are someone else. The statement comes to mind, “eat, drink and be merry,” without consideration for tomorrow. There is celebration to excess.

Even we, in our much more subdued Midwestern territory, stuff that extra jelly doughnut (paczki) in our mouths savoring this last sweet treat.

The frenzy all comes to an abrupt end tomorrow on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. The masks are removed, the costumes put aside and we must face our real selves. The liturgy reminds us of the frailty of our human existence, “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Ashes in the form of a cross are placed on our foreheads and we go about our business for the rest of the day as marked people.

I know that the mark must be disturbing for some people. It’s a reminder of death with an answer found in Christ and the cross. I remember hearing of a corporate executive who looked at some of his board members with the ash mark on their foreheads and referred to them as Jesus freaks. It’s a characteristic for some in our secular society that to be committed to Christ makes us abnormal, a freak.

That might not be too bad. Blessed are you when people reproach you and persecute you and speaking falsely, say all manner of evil against you for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, your reward is great in heaven.

As we begin the penitential season of Lent, let us prepare to examine our life not in its mortality but in its life-giving finality achieved through our relationship with the cross. His love has conquered sin and death.

Now in prayer, fasting and almsgiving, let our actions identify with His victory. Wear your mark as a Jesus freak proudly!

See you at Mass!

Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Archbishop of Milwaukee

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