Ash Wednesday
from A Franciscan Heart In the World Hosted by MJohnson, OFM Franciscan Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe
"You step forward, and the minister smudges a cross of ashes onto your forehead. 'Remember, you are dust…' The words hang in the air. Maybe you nod solemnly, maybe you shuffle back to your seat, but deep down, something stirs. A whisper of fear. Not just fear of death, but fear of something more immediate—the fear of stepping fully into the life God is calling you to. What if this Lent isn’t just about giving something up, but about letting something go? Something that’s been holding you back for far too long. This episode explores how fear—of failure, of uncertainty, of not being enough—can keep us from the transformation God desires for us. But Ash Wednesday reminds us that we are dust, yes, but dust breathed into life by a God who calls us beyond fear and into freedom.” And that is what Lent is calling us into. Lent is not about pretending we are fearless. It is about choosing transformation anyway. So what about us? Where are we afraid of stepping into something new? Where are we holding back because we are afraid of failing? Where are we clinging to control because we don’t trust what will happen if we let go? Where are we still chasing the next thing, instead of sitting with the present moment? Where have we made ourselves small, when God is calling us into something bigger? And where do we still hold onto fear—when we are meant to be free? This is the invitation of Lent. Not just to give something up, but to become someone new.Joel 2:12-18
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