Ash Wednesday – Homily (2026)
Ash Wednesday
Joel 2:12-18
Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 114 and 17 (3a)
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
February 18, 2026
The Lord told his people to “proclaim a fast” and to “call an assembly.”
We have assembled at Mass. The Mass as the greatest form of assembly for in the Mass we hear God’s Word proclaimed and we celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus giving his life for us on the Cross.
In His Word today, the Lord calls us to return to him with our whole heart. God knows we have sinned. Instead of abandoning us because of our sins, our Lord invites us to “rend our hearts” and return to him.
God could be angry at us for our sins. Instead, God is “slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.” As a loving and merciful God, He wants to forgive us.
There is just one thing we must do.
We must repent.
The first step in repenting is to acknowledge that we have sinned. One cannot repent of what one does not acknowledge doing. After we acknowledge our sins, then we can rend our hearts.
Psalm 51 gives us words to express our repentance. In saying the words of this psalm from our hearts, we acknowledge that we have sinned. Through the words of Psalm 51, we also acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves. So, we ask God to wash us from our guilt and to to create a clean heart in us.
Today we come to receive ashes on our foreheads as a sign of our repentance. In the Old Testament era, the ashes came from the burnt sacrifices offered for the forgiveness of sins.
We do not offer burnt sacrifices. Our ashes coming from the burning of palms blessed last year on Palm Sunday. The palms remind us of Jesus’ royal welcome to Jerusalem as He entered to offer the greatest sacrifice ever offered, his own Passion. He was beaten, mocked, and scourged. Innocent himself, He was crucified on a Cross.
Why was He crucified?
Jesus endured terrible suffering in his Passion for our sins. It was his supreme act of love. Jesus said, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). Jesus did not just say these words. He laid his life for our sins.
We are the ones who have sinned but Jesus pays the price.
Are you grateful for what Jesus has done for you?
Do not take what Jesus has done for you for granted. Do not take his love for granted.
We make a public admittance of our sins in coming here today to receive ashes. This is step one in repenting. It is not the only step.
We need to make an examination of conscience to make our best effort to recall all of our sins since our last confession so we can hand them over to our Lord. Then, we bring our sins to the Lord by confessing them through a priest to Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We need to confess out loud but in private all our mortal sins in order to hand them over to Jesus. We are invited but not required to confess our venial sins to hand them over as well.
Why?
Because if we don’t admit our sins to Jesus, we do not give him the chance to wipe them away.
As sinners, we are called to fast. Why fast?
Fasting is a way of emptying ourselves to open ourselves to all that the Lord offers us. It is also a sacrifice that we make, giving up food to show our surrender to God. What God offers us is more important than physical food. For those of you over 60, the rules say you do not need to fast from food to ensure good health. Is there something else you can give up for a day to show your surrender to God?
Think about your sins. If you need to go to confession, I will be available tomorrow from 4:00 to 6:00 pm at St. Mary’s.
Surrender your sins and your heart to our Lord and our Lord will forgive you!