The Snow Lay on the Ground

Homily for Ash Wednesday, Year C
Joel 2.12-18 Psalm 51 2 Corinthians 5.20-6.2 Matthew 6.1-6, 16-18

Needless to say, we’ve had a lot of snow around here in recent days. Snow makes such a beautiful, clean blanket as it covers the world with its pure, white flakes. There is nothing quite like a snow-covered landscape – at least, until the snow gets dirty, and the pure, white mounds are mixed with salt and sand and dirt and earth and become more gray than white. As beautiful as snow can be by itself, so too can it turn ugly and unsightly the more we drive and walk and plow it away. But such is the way of life.

On this Ash Wednesday, we gather as a people to publicly recognize the dirt and grime that has built up on our souls. We are dust, we are sinners, we are far from perfect. The cross of ashes that is placed on our foreheads today reminds us of that. But underneath, we know that there is a glimmer of hope – there is a spark of the divine, the image of God himself that has been imprinted within each of us. The good news of the season of Lent is that we don’t have to stay dirty; we can wipe away the grime and find once more the pure light of God that has been given to us. The process of conversion is lifelong – it is not confined to these 40 days each year. But we focus on that conversion in a particular way as we move through the prayer, fasting, and almsgiving of Lent. During these next 40 days, we make a concerted effort to turn away from ourselves and to turn toward God. During these next 40 days, we try to recover the grace of baptism that has been given to us. During these next 40 days, we strive more and more to recognize Christ in each person we encounter and honor the Spirit that lives in them.

Once it gets dirty, it is virtually impossible to restore snow to its original, clean, pure-white state. But for us, that transformation is possible. Through the water of baptism, we first became children of God. Now, as we journey toward the renewal of our baptismal promises at Easter, as we move forward on the path of Lenten conversion, the grace of God can rid us of everything that has darkened our souls over time. And once our sinfulness has been cleansed and wiped away, then we recover once again the purity of our baptismal identity.