Ash Wednesday 2012

Ash Wednesday 2012 (Matthew 6:1)
“Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen.”

When Jesus said “beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen” he expected people to practice piety.

Piety is devotion to religious duties and practices. Until recently, piety was highly valued in most cultures. It was certainly valued in the ancient word. It has no value in our modern secular world.

When scholars produced a new modern language edition of “The Odyssey", they realized they could not make a literal translation of the title Homer used for Odysseus. Homer referred to Odysseus consistently as “pious Odysseus.” The word “pious” in the ancient world was the highest form of praise. The modern translators substituted the word “noble”.

That word misses the entire point of the ancient story. Despite the terrible things Odysseus did in war, he is nevertheless honored because of his piety, his sense of reverence that produces certain actions highly valued in faith based cultures.
Piety is a three fold attitude and action towards God, other people and ourselves. It is a virtue characterized by reverence and respect. The acts of piety are religious, charitable and personal.

When you come to church on Ash Wednesday you perform a religious act of piety. God invites us to participate in the liturgy to receive the spiritual treasure of personal transformation in God’s eternal love and holiness. It is as we take the action of coming to church with the attitude of loyalty to God that we bring forth the religious virtue of piety.
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When you bring food to the parish Food Pantry you perform a charitable act of piety. The act is infused with grace as we hold the attitude of mercy and compassion in Jesus’ name. Jesus mentions giving alms, money, to the poor and destitute as an act of piety. It is as act of piety as we remember God’s original plan for our species to be interdependent. It is an act of piety as we seek the real presence of God the Holy Spirit to cultivate divine mercy and compassion in our hearts.

Personal acts of piety are those things we choose to do and choose not to do to facilitate our own personal transformation, our sanctification. Jesus accepts us where we are and just as we are. He invites us to become more of who God created us to be. That invitation is the call to worship and the call to repentance.

During Lent, we have the opportunity to review our priorities, our attitudes and our actions. We have the invitation to yield particular sins to God the Holy Spirit for Him to transform back into their original virtues.

Fasting and prayer are two ways we can respond to this invitation to transformation. Through the self-denial of fasting we can, if we choose, learn something about sacrificial love. In combination with prayer, fasting can help us discern where we live from the place of self-indulgence and the will to power.

We are most fully alive as we live from the place of love and compassion. That is the divine pattern of human life. It is the logos, the co-eternal word of God made flesh in Jesus Christ.

God invites us to reconsider our priorities during Lent in light of the priorities He gave to us through Moses. Jesus summarizes these priorities in the framework of love. Love God with all of your heart, soul and strength. Love others as you love yourself. God invites us to review the Ten Commandments He gave to Moses and ask in prayer: where I am not in this truth?

Piety is a practice. We are being perfected in piety but we are never perfect in piety. We practice piety in the same way an artist practices art, a sportsman practices a particular sport, as a musician practices music. Through careful and intentional acts of piety we practice the new way of living Jesus gives us. We become more of who God created us to be. We become fully alive in Jesus Christ.