One of the essential ways of becoming close to any person is by truly listening, from the heart, to that person's story, so that, increasingly, we become able to understand them, as they understand themselves.

One of the essential ways that we become close to Jesus is by exploring and reflecting on the spiritual seasons of his life, from the time before he was born (in the season of Advent); his birth and the beginning of his ministry (in the season of Epiphany); his passion and death (in Lent); his life after death (in Easter), to his ongoing spiritual presence in our lives (in Pentecost and beyond).

As we listen prayerfully and reflect on the different spiritual themes that arise in these different seasons of Jesus life, throughout the course of the year, something happens. The Holy Spirit awakens our hearts and minds to the Living Person of Jesus. Through the Words of Scripture, the Spirit of the Living Christ speaks to our hearts and minds and personally reveals himself to us. And so we become familiar not just with biblical information, but, in a mysterious way, with Jesus himself.

Tonight we are moving into a new season of Jesus' life. today, Ash Wednesday, marks the end of Epiphany and the beginning of Lent.

Tonight we cross the invisible line in the story between Jesus' life, and his passion and death. It was a line that, although it was invisible, was very real. And it was a line that Jesus very consciously and deliberately crossed.

If you have ever had the experience of being with someone as they approached the end of their life, you know that it is an opportunity to see into the soul of the person, to depths that you were perhaps not able to see before. And for that very reason it can be very rewarding and also very difficult.

Lent is all of that and more for us, because in Lent we are given the opportunity to look deeply into the soul of Jesus as he approaches the end of his life, and, to look, together with Jesus, into the depths of our own souls, and to be healed there, by his love.

In Lent, God empowers us to know, and be touched by Jesus, and to become like Jesus, in a very particular way. In Lent, God empowers us to become more honest about our vulnerability.

It is true that, in Lent, there is a lot of exploration of the themes of “sin” and “repentance”, but those themes belong to the much larger and more central theme of being honest about our vulnerability as human beings.

"Sin", from the story of Eden onward, is really nothing more than an attempt to deny and escape from our human vulnerability. In sin there is always concealed an inner proclamation that is saying to God:“I'm not vulnerable. I don't need your help; I will take care of myself, and do it my way.

”Repentance", on the other hand, is a reversal of that attitude. Repentance is an attitude that humbly acknowledges and accepts our true vulnerability, and wants to receive all the help it can get.

In all of the treasures in our liturgy, there is no ritual that thrusts us into awareness of our vulnerability more than the imposition of ashes, with the words: “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Such strange words to hear... in a world that is constantly telling us that if we want to be happy, we must maximize our might and our power, and never ever show a sign of weakness.

And so we have to ask ourselves: why is becoming aware of, and honest about, our vulnerability a good thing? If we really want to succeed and be happy, wouldn't it be far better for us to always be brimming with confidence about our ability to take care of ourselves, by ourselves, no matter what? ...

Actually, no, it wouldn't. Because, in truth, all of our health, our brain power, our wealth and possessions, even our friends and family – are temporal goods. They don't last forever.

Only the Mystery we call “God” is eternal. And so, it is only in God that we discover a life and a love that are truly boundless.

And yet, we are prone to “make believe” that we will never lose our health, our wealth, and the people we care about. And that makes us cling tightly to the things of this world rather than becoming more conscious of, and trusting in, the transforming love of God in Christ.

In receiving the ashes of Ash Wednesday we seek to deepen our understanding of two essential truths: 1^st: that, in ourselves alone, we are dust, and to dust we shall return. 2^nd: that, because of Christ, whose sign is made with those ashes on our foreheads, we belong to God.

As we consciously participate in this liturgy of the ashes, we become more mindful of the preciousness of being alive, however short or long, easy or difficult, this life may be.... because whatever may be happening in the present moment of our lives, it always presents us with an opportunity to receive more grace; to loosen the tightness of our grip on temporal goods; and to open our hearts and minds more widely to the Eternal Good, the Love of God in Christ, where we discover that our vulnerability is, in truth, not a curse, but an awesome blessing.