Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday  - 14 February 2018                                                                       

Yap Catholic High School

Praying over today’s Gospel got me thinking about three places here on Yap: the Dump, the Hospital, and the Post Office

We three Jesuits of Yap have house jobs. My job is to go to the Dump.  Once a week, I take our garbage, put it in the car, and drive to the dump.  The Dump fascinates me. It’s so big, and filthy, and smelly.  There are piles, almost mountains of garbage.  There are flies buzzing all over, and the worst looking dogs you’ve ever seen, and occasionally even a person or two down at the bottom of the pit, going through everything, looking for something to save. 

So what does the Dump have to do with Lent?  Good question.  Each one of us here, if we are honest, knows that we have some garbage inside of us that we really should get rid of.  Our garbage is not good for us.  It’s all the nasty stuff that we try to ignore or stuff down, or pretend it’s not there.  If we don’t get rid of it, we run the risk of becoming rotten, or at least smelly, or someone no one wants to be around.

Like the garbage at the Dump, our garbage comes in different forms.  Some of it is our sins – cheating, lying, hurting or taking advantage of others, not giving our best, being jealous, not being grateful to God.  I could go on, but you know what I’m talking about. 

Some of it is our personal weakness (laziness, haughtiness, selfishness, disobedience, self-pity).  Some of it is our false beliefs, especially about ourselves – “I’m better than she is.”  “God doesn’t love me.”  “I can do whatever I want.”  “Everyone hates me.”

Lent is a time to get rid of all that garbage.  Clean it out.  We can do that with the Sacrament of Confession. Nothing is better than feeling brand new after making a good confession.  We can get rid of our garbage by deciding to live differently.  We can do it by believing that we are loved. We can do it by putting more discipline in our lives.  The Church calls all of that penance and it is one of the three traditional practices of Lent.  Penance is anything extra we do, or something that we do without, and it helps to make us stronger and more open to God.

The second place I thought of is the Hospital.  I have been there as a patient and as a priest to visit and pray with people.  Whenever I am at the hospital, I see sick people, of course, but I also see all kinds of other people who are taking care of the sick.  Nurses, and doctors, but family and friends of the sick also, just sitting with them, or giving them some food, or doing whatever they can.  All those people – whether it is the medical personnel, or friends and family – are focused on the people who are sick.  They aren’t looking out for themselves; they are giving of themselves to those in need.  Giving to others is what the Church traditionally calls almsgiving, and like penance, it is one of the three main practices of Lent.  From what we have, we give to those who don’t have.

The third place I thought of is the Post Office.  When one moves thousands of miles away from home, the Post Office becomes a very important place.  If people write you a letter, or send you a package, it comes to you through the Post Office.  No visits to the Post Office, no letter.  No visits to the Post Office, no package.  And, unfortunately, sometimes when you go to the Post Office, there is no letter and no package waiting for you.  But that’s no reason to stop going.  Maybe next time, right? You have to keep going back.

The Post Office for me is a reminder to pray, to take time to speak to God, and more importantly, to take time to quiet down enough to hear what God has to say.  If I don’t do that, I’m not going to be connected to God.  I won’t be able to tell the Lord what I need to tell Him, and He won’t be able to tell me anything either.  Prayer is the third traditional practice of Lent.  We need to take some time during the 40 days of Lent to pray more.  I believe that God has something to say to everyone here, but that requires that we take time to pray, to go to the Post Office, if you will.

So, today and for the next six weeks, in your imagination – go to the Dump, go to the Hospital, and go to the Post Office.  Go to the Dump to get rid of the garbage that is keeping you away from God.  Go to the Hospital to look for someone who needs you, and be there for that person, and go to the Post Office and expect a letter or maybe even a package from God.  Then put it all into action in your life.

Have a good Lent.  Expect God to bless you, but be sure to do your part.  

God is counting on you.