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the ashes are burned ............

Fr. Tom Konopka
Feb 17
2 min read

I just finished the palm burning service that we started last year. As I was talking to the people there about why we burn the palms and use them on Ash Wednesday, it struck me that life is very fragile. Those dried up and brittle palms were once vibrant and green. If they has not been cut off the palm tree, they would have given shade to people and remained a part of a flourishing tree. But now, being reduced to ashes, they were no longer the sign of victory but the sign of death.

Our relationship with Jesus has the same life cycle. At times, we are vibrantly alive in Christ and we bear fruit. But, at times, we separate ourselves from Christ and become like those dried up and lifeless branches. Each of us have tried to breath life back into ourselves by chasing power and things. We have tried to find joy in things and substances. We find some relief, but it never lasts and leaves us wanting more.

Hopefully, like the Prodigal Son, we wake up and realize that we will only find peace in the house of our Father. The ashes that are left after the palms are burned can become the soil of our return to God. Some people will use ashes to make the soil better to grow things in. The ashes of the palms will be the soil to help our hearts return to the Lord.

Our world today has forgotten God and his Kingdom. So many people try to build their own kingdom and after a while only ashes result. For us who believe in Jesus, the ashes on our forehead on Ash Wednesday must become the ashes on our hearts. We must stand before God admitting we have wandered from Him and we need Him. During these holy days, we are called back to the commandments: you shall have no other god before me.

As we begin the holy season of Lent, my prayer for myself and others is that it is not a waste of time of giving up meat, saying some extra prayers, or cleaning out a closet. The grace I desire is to reconnect with God in such a deep way that my heart is not filled with ashes but the fire of the divine love that only God can give. That is my prayer for each of us. We talk about a new church; it can only begin when our hearts on fire for him alone.

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