Ash Wednesday

Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned. Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.

During the time of Lent, we are called to reexamine our lives and realign them with God’s Will wherever we have gone astray. We all have areas in our lives where we can do a better job of being Christians. Sometimes we fail in small ways. Other times we fail in big ways. Thankfully for us, we have a loving and merciful God, who is full of kindness and goodness. He is more than willing to forgive our weaknesses and wipe out our offenses. And if we come to Him in the sacrament of reconciliation and confess our sins with humble and contrite hearts, He will wash away our guilt and cleanse us so we are once again worthy of being His children.

Do we take time to examine our lives and our consciences to realign them with God’s Will? Do we take advantage of the sacrament of reconciliation whenever we need to? How can we be as merciful to others as God is with us?

O Lord, be merciful for we have sinned.

Amen.