Ash Wednesday 2021

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels 
February 17, 2021

My brothers and sisters in Christ,¹

The holy season of Lent that we begin today is the time to make a new beginning and go deeper in our spiritual life. 

Once again, God is calling us to make a new beginning to go deeper in our relationship with him. 

We hear our Lord’s voice in the first reading today, from the prophet Joel:

Even now, says the Lord, 
Return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping and mourning.

This invitation is open to all of us today. Return to God with your whole heart. Open your heart and know God’s love for you.

So my brothers and sisters, this is our second Lent living under the pandemic. And these have been difficult months for all of us. But we know that our Lord has been with us. He never abandons us. 

And today he calls each one of us to come closer to him. So we have this special moment of grace, this special invitation to renew our trust in the Lord, to strengthen our confidence in God’s personal love for each one of us.

As we know, the traditional spiritual practices of Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, performing works of mercy and love. 

And as Jesus explains to us today in the Gospel, these are three ways that we can use to get closer to God and experience his presence in our lives. Jesus tells us today in the passage of the Gospel three times: “Your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” 

We are always in the presence of God! Our Father watches over us always in his loving gaze. This is a beautiful reality of our lives. We are children of God and he loves each one of us with a Father’s love. 

So again during this Lent, we have an invitation — from our Lord himself — to renew our awareness of his presence in our lives, through these practices of prayer, fasting, and works of mercy and love. 

Prayer, as we know, is not complicated. Just having a conversation with God. But I think the point that we need to reflect on today is to find a way to make more time to pray. That’s what Lent is for. Finding a way to spend more time in those conversations with God. 

And I was thinking that during this Lent, we should try to get back to the basics — that conversation with God. Simple things. Thanking him for his goodness and his kindness in our life. Also sharing with him what we’re worried about — specific things in our personal life, in our families and society — and asking for his help. And also, finding the time to be quiet and just rest in our Father’s loving gaze. Listen for his voice in our hearts. 

That’s praying — we don’t have to come up with special words. It’s just to spend time with God. 

During Lent, we also want to connect with God through fasting. 

Traditionally during Lent, we give something up. Something we enjoy, something that maybe we depend on. And we do it in a spirit of penance and sacrifice, maybe trying to be less selfish, or trying to rely more and more on God. Little things in our daily life that we can offer up. And that’s, sometimes, real penance. 

And finally, we practice works of mercy and of love. We try to be more generous, opening our hearts, thinking about the needs of others, finding little ways to serve people. 

And this year, at the time, it’s especially important, I think, to find the way to serve our brothers and sisters in this challenging time and give them hope. As I was saying, maybe just making a phone call, listening to somebody — those little things can be very helpful to people around us. 

Because we, Catholics and Christians, we need to be messengers of hope, especially during this challenging time. 

So my dear brothers and sisters, let us make a fresh start in this Lent. Through our prayer, fasting, and our works of mercy, let us entrust ourselves more and more to our Lord’s tender care and seek more and more to do his will in everything.  

And as we begin this holy season of Lent, in this time of the pandemic, let us entrust ourselves again to the Immaculate Heart of Mary our Blessed Mother. 

May she help us to have a holy Lent and grow in our trust in her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Readings: Joel 2:12-18; Ps. 51:3-6, 12-13, 17; 2 Cor. 5:20-6:2; Matt. 6:1-6, 16-18.