Today is Ash Wednesday. It is a special day for many people. For Catholics across the world it is a special spiritual day. The tradition of wearing the ashes on this day has appeal across all age groups. The ashes are a reminder of our mortality and that we are merely pilgrims passing through this world. The ashes remind us that we are all equal in God’s eyes. The ashes are an outward symbol that we are are not perfect and that we are human but very importantly they also remind us that we are uniquely special and loved by God. The ashes remind us that we are beginning this important journey through Lent.
Video for the Week🎥
On this special day Ash Wednesday – What is it all about?
So for today Ash Wednesday a key question is how are the ashes made?
This is my new video below and it is called ‘A Spring Prayer in Lent’. With Lent beginning today, one part of the prayer invites us to be gentle with ourselves this Lent
With Lent beginning today Ash Wednesday (March 5th) – this video underneath that I put together last year still has a very relevant message
If you would like to see a selection of my other videos on YouTube you are welcome to have a look at some of them here: https://www.youtube.com/@JamesMcSweeneyFr/videos
Spiritual Thought For The Week
There is a beautiful line in Psalm 102, ‘The Lord is compassion and love.’ We all have a lovely sense of the word love and spiritually we keep saying over and over how God loves us and nothing can ever change God’s special love for each of us.
The word compassion is a word we don’t use much. It is another word for kindness but it’s more than that. Compassion is about feeling someone else’s pain and wanting to do something about it. Compassion is when we can walk in someone else’s shoes and we try to see, hear and feel what they are going through.
We all know what it’s like to walk with a tiny pebble in our shoe. It is most difficult. And sometimes someone else has a pebble in their shoe that we have no idea about. I am always touched and blown away by the sacredness of people coming together for Mass on a Sunday in their local church. I am hugely aware of how each person brings their own story and all that is going for them right now.
And for some of us there can be and there is a lot going on for each of us. We must never underestimate or take for granted what anybody might be going through right now. And at Mass we reach out in compassion and love and prayer to you, whatever may be going on for you.
Maybe today or during the week you could also contact someone you know who is going through a difficult time, and that is compassion at its best. We might especially need to receive this compassion and love today, or we might also be the one to share this compassion and love with someone who needs it.
I will finish by saying Jesus clearly knew compassion and love were so important. It is something he shared with so many. And often it’s the little moments of compassion and love that matter the most.
The Thought For The Week is updated each Monday
