9.20am Ash Wednesday Mass on 2 March 2022

oh [Music] whenever you want to play oh [Music] [Music] good morning and welcome to our ash wednesday morning mass here at sun charles boromayo church ash wednesday is the start of lent which is a very important time within the catholic liturgical year it is the time of purification in which we prepare ourselves through prayer fasting and arms giving as we approach holy week today we will receive the ashes on our foreheads to remember that we are dust and to dust we shall return let's start lent in the best way possible by entering fully into this mass our celebrant this morning is father greg morgan please stand as we begin with the opening hymn [Music] come back to me to others [Music] where i will speak integrity and justice oh [Music] in the name of the father and of the son of the holy spirit amen the grace of our lord jesus christ the love of god our father and the communion of the holy spirit be with you all and with your spirit happy ash wednesday everybody father greg what sort of a what sort of a greeting is that hold on a second hold on a second we've got to realize everything is in function of us being fruitful you see these next 40 days that we have is about getting things in order so that we can give the greatest amount of fruit possible okay because our lives were destined to do that you are all meant to be fruitful and those fruits of love and goodness and kindness that's precisely what we want to see however to get there we've got to invest we've got to dig around the plant we've got to prune the things that are not quite right but it's all in function of you and i becoming as fruitful as we possibly can so i say to you happy ash wednesday because it is great what we're going to be doing let's open up our hearts to the lord's goodness and his love and because we'll have the distribution of the ashes later on we don't have a penitential right we just have a prayer and then we're going to listen to the readings and let them sink in grant oh lord that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of christian service so that as we take up battle against spiritual evils we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint through our lord jesus christ your son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit god for ever and ever amen please be seated we're going to listen now to the readings for today a reading from the prophet joel now now it is the lord who speaks come back to me with all your heart fasting weeping mourning let your hearts be broken not your garments torn turn to the lord your god again for he is all tenderness and compassion slow to anger rich in graciousness and ready to relent who knows if he will not turn again will not relent will not leave a blessing as he passes oblation and libation for the lord your god sound the trumpet in zion order a fast proclaim a solemn assembly call the people together summon the community assemble the elders gather the children even the infants at the breast let the bridegroom leave his bedroom and the bride her alcove between the vestibule and the altar let the priests the ministers of the lord lament let them say spare your people lord do not make a heritage your heritage a thing of shame a byword for the nations why should it be said among the nations where is their god then the lord jealous on behalf of his land took pity on his people the word of the lord thanks be to god be merciful o lord for we have sinned be merciful o lord for we have sinned have mercy on me god in your kindness in your compassion blot out my offense o wash me more and more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin [Music] for we have sinned my offenses truly i know them my sin is always before me against you you alone have i sinned what is evil in your sight i have done a pure heart create for me a god put a steadfast spirit within me do not cast me away from your presence nor deprive me of your holy spirit be merciful o lord for we have sinned give me again the joy of your help with a spirit of fervor sustain me o lord open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise a reading from the second letter of saint paul to the corinthians we are ambassadors for christ it is as though god were appealing through us and the appeal that we make in christ's name is be reconciled to god for our sake god made the sinless one into sin so that in him jesus we might become the goodness of god as his fellow workers we beg you once again not to neglect the grace of god that you have received for he says at the favorable time i have listened to you on the day of salvation i came to your help well now is the favorable time this is the day of salvation the word of the lord thanks be to god please stand praise to your lord jesus christ king of endless glory [Music] praise jesus christ [Music] today you'll hear his voice and harden lost your hearts praise your lord the lord be with you and with your spirit a reading from the holy gospel according to matthew glory to you o lord jesus said to his disciples be careful not to parade your good deeds before men to attract their notice by doing this you will lose all reward from your father in heaven so when you give alms do not have it trumpeted before you this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win men's admiration i tell you solemnly they have had their reward but when you give arms your left hand must not know what your right is doing your arms giving must be secret and your father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you and when you pray do not imitate the hypocrites they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them i tell you solemnly they have had their reward but when you pray go to your private room and when you have shut your door pray to your father who is in that secret place and your father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you when you fast do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do they pull long faces to let men know they are fasting i tell you solemnly they have had their reward but when you fast put oil on your head and wash your face so that no one will know you are fasting except your father who sees all that is done in secret and your father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you this is the gospel of the lord praise you lord jesus christ thank you father dan well it's nice to see you back again oh i should say that you're seeing me back again anyway i've been away for the last two and a half weeks in spain with uh a symposium for administration my community i got in about one o'clock this morning so my eyes might look a little bit reddish that's okay but honestly the beginning of lent is meant to be a time of great hope it's like when you you sow the seeds into the soil and you expect to see the flowers come those gardens that we have out the front thanks be to god for our our wonderful parishioners who keep on working at them as well but the flowers that we have there they've transformed that entrance to our church and that transformation has come about because of the preparing of that soil putting in really good soil and good fertilizer getting rid of everything that was there that could have damaged the flowers and letting it grow and in a lot of respects that's what pope francis is inviting us this lent as well to do he has a beautiful message for lent you should check it out if you type in pope francis lenten message 2022 it'll come up i'm thinking of putting part of it into the bulletin for this next week as well but it's a really hopeful message and we need a hopeful message the situation of our world over in europe i was over in spain and i can tell you there's a lot of concerned people in europe right now i think even more than at christmas when we spoke about hope now is a time in which we need to sow hope to look after it and let it flourish and so the pope has some wonderful words and the focus the particular focus that he has for his lenten message i think it is going to really help all of us i'd invite you to have a read of it i'm going to read a few little sections today just to give you a bit of an idea dear brothers and sisters he starts out saying lent is a favorable time do you remember when i began at the beginning i said happy ash wednesday father are you crazy happy ash wednesday because lent is a favorable time for personal and community renewal now you know that we've begun this renewal in the parish from the last four years we've been really working at this but he says this it's for the renewal of our hearts as it leads to the paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of jesus christ now for our lenten journey in 2022 he says we will all do well to reflect on saint paul's exhortation to his friends the galatians okay he said let us never grow tired of doing good oh that's great let us never grow tired of doing good for in due time we shall all reap our harvest if we do not give up so lent is this time of perseverance in helping us become fruitful and then he says this so then while we have the opportunity let us all do good to all okay so lent is about opening ourselves up to more and more service better service looking for ways in which our lives can be more fruitful but the service is the third of the three practices that we had in the gospel that father dan read out for us these three basic works the fasting the prayer and the arms giving or the service are absolutely essential to us in fact our happiness depends on it sometimes we go short on the time of prayer often we don't even worry about fasting and so he can't work out why it is that instead of having good fruits we have a lot of bad fruits well if you look back to the first two you realize that they're in function of our becoming fruitful and so the pope gives this wonderful phrase that it's at the end of his message but it really stood out for me as i was praying with um the relation the the the readings that we have today and also with his message he said the soil is prepared by fasting it's watered by prayer and it's enriched by charity so those three the fasting the prayer and the charitable works what are they for the soil is your life your life is meant to be fruitful and colorful with all sorts of flowers to it however he said the soil is prepared by fasting watered by prayer and enriched by charity now fasting is absolutely necessary if we think that we don't need it then we probably are under underestimating the fruits that our lives can give like with all things with our rose garden out the front if we don't have ann getting in there and pruning those roses back we all know they won't give as many flowers next time pruning is absolutely essential with our spiritual life if we allow for things that are bad to develop within us bad habits bad ways of reacting anger jealousy lust pride all those things we've got to prune them back if we don't then next year we won't have as much fruit we won't have as many flowers you know that when you're pruning your roses why don't we put it into practice pruning our lives so the soil is prepared by fasting watered by prayer again it happens so often that we become so busy that we don't put time into prayer prayer is about investing it's about investing in the great harvest your life is going to give now i see all of you as potential apostles but perhaps not all of you will become an apostle because you don't follow this pathway the lord has set down for us prepared by fasting watered by prayer enriched by charity do you know throughout the gospel i was just praying this morning about how many times jesus talks about fruitfulness you think of it he gives the parable of of the talents about having given talents and he expects them to be fruitful he has the parable as well of the su the of the seed and the sower and is expecting that that seed gives sometimes 30 or 60 or a hundred it's all over there he gives a parable about a fig tree which he is expecting to have fruits all year round because that's meant to be a christian life so continually throughout the gospels jesus is talking about our being fruitful in the gospel of saint john in chapter 15 we have that magnificent parable of the vine and the branches and right at the end in verse 8 jesus says this it is to the glory of my father that you should bear much fruit and then you'll be my disciples now just a little bit further down in verse 16 he says you did not choose me oh no i chose you we have all been chosen by the lord to be incredibly fruitful and he said i have chosen you to go out and bear fruit fruit that will last so that anything you ask in the father's name will be given my command to you is that you love one another so that third practice about charitable works about loving one another is also absolutely essential we don't start fixing it we don't start working our muscles they'll go to flab and in our hearts and in our souls as well charitable works is what produces in us the muscle the staying power to be able to love especially when we get into difficult circumstances when there are problems in situations that we find hard to look after but the pope then adds after that line he says let us believe firmly that if we do not give up we shall reach we shall reap our harvest in due time and that the gift of perseverance through it we shall obtain what was promised for our salvation and for the salvation of others each one of us is there for not just getting ourselves across the finishing line but many others around us and then he says this by cultivating fraternal love towards everyone we are united to christ like the branches are united to the vine who gave his life for our sake and we are granted a foretaste of the joy of the kingdom of heaven where god will be all in all so that's why there's a call to conversion today and throughout the next 40 days of lent why because jesus believes in us and he knows that we were created to be fruitful but that we need to work as well it'll be as we say in the mass fruit of the vine and work of human hands so part of it is grace from god but the other is definitely our effort and the work that we put into it and so i'll just finish with these words from pope francis he says each year during lent we are reminded that goodness together with love and justice and solidarity are not achieved one sin for all it's not as if we all got past the finishing line not at all he says they have to be realized they have to be fulfilled and done each day he says let us ask god to give us the patient perseverance of the farmer and to persevere in doing good one step at a time so don't sit before yourselves mountains that you don't think you're going to be able to reach set before yourselves every day maybe three little things you're going to do just three things have a look at your life where do you need to work where do you need to work in prayer maybe just make that step of five minutes a day of prayer why don't you come down for the mass in the morning at 6 30 a.m for those of you who are working or to one of the masses during the week there's so much that can be done there are prayer groups we have prayer groups here for lent we've got the school of the word on tuesday night do something about your prayer one little thing the second thing is to do something one little thing at least today about the fasting where is your time being consumed is it through television or through surfing than the internet or whatever where are where is all your energies going have a look at that and see maybe you need to cut with something in order to be able to dedicate more to what the lord wants of us and the third little one is about loving about forgiving about being generous take something little every day and put it into practice there's so much happening around us that we can sometimes forget the fruitfulness of our lives will be fruit of the vine and work of human hands and so today ash wednesday you are given 40 days ahead of you me too as well there are things i've got to work with with me no doubt about it okay so i've said to the lord this morning okay i'm going to take those three steps as well and all together let's produce the fruits because again he said it wasn't you who chose him but he who chose you and he has commissioned you to go out and bear much fruit fruit that will last and anything you ask the father in my name will be granted to us so now we're going to have the blessing and distribution of the ashes so we now have our ashes here they were burnt they were the the palms that we had left over from last year were burnt yesterday and we have those actions don't worry they're not hot okay i can see some of you thinking ah no no no they're definitely quite cold by now okay so we're going to do dan would you like that father would you like to help you can do the blessing of the ashes themselves and i'll give the prayer dear brothers and sisters let us humbly ask god our father that he be pleased to bless with the abundance of his grace these ashes which we will put on our heads impeditants would you like to bless them with the holy water thanks a little bit less water oh god who are moved by acts of humility and respond with forgiveness to works of penance lend your merciful ear to our prayers and in your kindness pour out the grace of your blessing on your servants who will be marked with these ashes that as they follow the lenten observances they may be worthy to come with minds made pure to celebrate the paschal mystery of your son through christ our lord amen so we're now going to have some music at the same time invite you to to be seated and will be coming down in order to receive the ashes and we'll be saying repent and believe in the good news father dan repent and believe in the good news i've agreed repent believe in the good news repent and believe in the good news repent and believe in the good news repent and believe in the good news repent believe in the good news repent and believe the good news there'll be four people down the front so if you just like to come down when you see that one is being attended to here if you can go to the other ones as well to make it a little bit quicker for us that would be great repent and believe in the good news repent and believe in the good news um guy we'd like to come a little bit closer [Music] we praise our trust [Music] is faithfulness and love this love [Music] [Music] is [Music] our trust in god lord let your mercy be on us the word of the lord means a patient gentle god whose love can never is [Music] as we place our trust the word of the lord is fire burning strong and love that never grows [Music] let us [Music] lord let us [Music] okay [Music] grant us our lord our heart [Music] in us your own spirit lord behold the days are coming says the lord our when i will make on your covenant with the house of israel grant our heart renewed recreate in us your spirit lord deep within my being i will write it in their hearts grant my heart [Music] recreate in us your own spirit lord i will be there and they shall be my people grant to us o lord our heart renewed recreating us your spirit lord and for all their faults i will grant forgiveness never more [Music] [Music] recreate in us your spirit [Music] have our offer tree yep okay would you kindly stand we'll have the prayers of the faithful and so on this day we ask you lord to open up our hearts to your word for prayer to your gentle advice in order to change and also to the fruitfulness of your love in us may the universal church respond to the appeal of pope francis and make this day a day of intense prayer and fasting so that the war between russia and ukraine will cease immediately lord hear us lord hear our prayer may the people of ukraine be protected those enduring new hardships be sustained and all put their trust in god's mercy and compassion lord hear us lord hear our prayer may the russian government respond to the appeal of the ukrainian government from the united nations and many governments around the world that they put down the weapons of war and by diplomacy walk a short path to peace lord hear us lord hear our prayer may our prayer in our own secret place draw us closer to jesus in holy friendship and enable us all to see our neighbors as our sisters and brothers lord hear us lord hear our prayer may our lenten fasting and penance help curb our selfishness in order that we will live generously for others lord hear us lord hear our prayer may our giving in charity to others be filled with mercy and come from a deep sense of justice towards those in need lord hear us lord hear our prayer heavenly father help us to grow in works of charity give us your word in order to deepen in our lives in the in the mission in the vision that you have for us and give us by our acts of fasting a way of being able to cut back on what takes away the fruitfulness we ask this through christ our lord amen please be seated as we have our office now [Music] i beat you i have to offer um listen to my word and you will enjoy [Music] pray sisters and brothers at my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to god the almighty father lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his name prayer good and the good of all his holy church as we solemnly offer the annual sacrifice for the beginning of lent we entreat you o law that through works of penance and charity we may turn away from harmful pleasures and cleanse from our sins may become worthy to celebrate devoutly the passion of your son who lives and reigns for ever and ever the lord be with you and with your spirit lift up your hearts let us give thanks to the lord our god it is right and just this particular preface that we have now talks about the fruits of abstinence and the fasting in our lives always very necessary it is truly right and just our duty and our salvation always and everywhere to give you thanks lord holy father almighty and eternal god for you will that our self-denial should give you thanks you humble our sinful pride you contribute to the feeding of the poor and so help us imitate you in your kindness and so we glorify you with countless angels as with one voice of praise we too acclaim [Music] oh who comes in the name of the lord in the highest you are indeed holy o lord the fount of all holiness make holy therefore these gifts we pray by sending down your spirit upon them like the dewfall so that they may become for us the body and blood of our lord jesus christ at the time he was betrayed and entered willingly into his passion he took bread and giving thanks broke it and gave it to his disciples saying take this all of you and eat of it for this is my body which will be given up for you [Music] in a similar way when supper was ended he took the chalice and once more giving thanks he gave it to his disciples saying take this all of you and drink from it for this is the chalice of my blood the blood of the new and eternal covenant which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins do this in memory of me [Music] the mystery of our faith [Music] when we eat this bread and drink this therefore as we celebrate the memorial of his death and resurrection we offer you lord the bread of life and the chalice of salvation giving thanks that you have held us worthy to be in your presence and minister to you humbly we pray that partaking of the body and blood of christ that we may be gathered into one by the holy spirit remember lord your church spread throughout the world and bring her to the fullness of charity together with francis alpo and anthony our bishop and all the clergy remember also our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection and all who have died in your mercy welcome them into the light of your face have mercy on us all we pray that with the blessed virgin mary mother of god with the blessed apostles and all the saints who have pleased you throughout the ages we may merit to be coheirs to eternal life and may praise and glorify you through your son jesus christ through him and with him and in him o god almighty father in the unity of the holy spirit all glory and honor is yours forever [Music] is please stand at the savior's command and formed by divine teaching we dare to say our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil deliver us lord we pray from every evil graciously grant peace in our days that by the help of your mercy we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our savior jesus christ for the kingdom the power and the glory are yours now and forever lord jesus christ you who said to your apostles peace i leave you my peace i give you look not in our sins but in the faith of your church and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will who live and reign for ever and ever amen the peace of the lord be with you always let's offer each other a sign of jesus peace peace be with you peace be with you brother [Music] [Music] have mercy on you take away [Applause] [Music] grant us [Music] behold the lamb of god behold him who takes away the sins of the world blessed are those called to the supper of the lamb lord i am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed in may the body and blood of christ bring us all to eternal life he who ponders the law of the lord day and night will yield fruit in due season foreign [Music] god bless it remains brought us in my brain [Music] if we have died with him then we shall live with him if we hold them we shall [Music] [Music] up if anyone serves me then they must follow me wherever i am my servants will be [Music] it remains not a single as i make [Music] [Music] upon [Music] is [Music] then [Music] it remains but a single those who love me i love by my father we shall be with them and then [Music] [Music] and die it remains but a single brain [Music] peace i live with you my peace i give to you peace which the world cannot give is my gift [Music] it reveals with more [Music] we thank you lord for this time of lent for giving us time to change we thank you for investing in our lives the grace that comes from jesus day after day in the eucharist for the great audaciousness of your plan lord that we be so fruitful that each of our lives may feed the spiritual lives of the many and we thank you for the gift of today that we can let your word penetrate we can cut away what is not right and we can let the fruits be seen in the love and the patience and in the forgiveness of today thank you for this day lord and may it be a day of fruitfulness lived in conversion of heart to you so just recapping there are a number of different things we have on this lent know that we have our prayer groups you'll find all those in the bullet on the website as well and on friday as well 6 30 p.m in this church spot on we have stations of the cross as well throughout this time of lent and there'll be other things as well that'll be put into the into the bulletin this sunday's balls so you can make the most of them but let this be a time of investing in the future fruitfulness even present fruitfulness of your lives you'll find that everything invests in the lord nothing is ever wasted no love is ever lost the lord will produce his fruits in you and i if we have the perseverance in plowing the ground letting the seed sink in cutting away all those thorns and things that get in there and letting the fruit be seen let us pray may the sacrament that we have received sustain us o lord that our lenten fast may be pleasing to you and be for us all a healing remedy for sin we ask this through christ our lord amen the lord be with you and may almighty god bless you the father and the son and the holy spirit go forth the mass has ended thanks please god [Music] is the is is we may [Music] you

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Length: 57min 15sec (3435 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 01 2022