Reflection for Ash Wednesday (By Kevin Gaffney, St Elizabeth’s RCIA Instructor)
The readings for March 5, 2025 for Ash Wednesday, the start of the season of lent, are a powerful reminder that God wants a real authentic relationship with us. It is fitting that ashes are offered as an outward reminder that we should always have a repentant spirit and strive for conversion away from sinful acts.
Down through the ages ashes are symbolic of an outward symbol of interior conversion and forgiveness of sin. The three readings explain in detail how outward symbols of repenting were simply not enough. It was only the heart felt God inspired interior conversion that will please God.
God has initiated the conversion by calling his people back to him. Not to do acts of righteousness for show but for heart felt love and honesty. The readings are a call for true conversion, sacrifice, and prayer.
Accepting the lessons they teach will assist us in building God’s Kingdom through our individual and our community’s relationship with God.
Reflection on the Epiphany of the Lord, January 5, 2025 (By Joseph P. DeMaria)
This reflection on the Epiphany of the Lord touches on the mysteries and difficulties of the event
for the Magi. The recognition that an old world was dying. And with the birth of Jesus a new
world was struggling to be born, a world the Lord had physically entered.
Reflection on the Baptism of the Lord (By Dan Pirrello, Lectors Ministry)
This reflection on the Baptism of the Lord from Luke 3:15-16, 22-23 presents the pivotal moment of Jesus’ public ministry, where the Holy Spirit descends upon him visibly at his baptism in the Jordan River. I hope it will make you think and reflect on what this moment means to you.