Ash Wednesday - February 18, 2026

Summary

Mother Suzanne explains that Lent is not about punishment or self-denial for its own sake, but rather a season of preparation that helps us move closer to God by removing the distractions and masks that prevent us from seeing clearly. Through the three pillars of Lent—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—we can experience spiritual clarity and authenticity by stepping away from our cluttered patterns and excessive consumption. She emphasizes that this 40-day journey is a choice that leads to freedom and to becoming who we are meant to be.

The Gospel                                                                                                            Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” 

Transcript

Mother Suzanne:

Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all of your heart, with fasting, with weeping, with mourning, wr your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord. For he is gracious. He is merciful. In the name of the One God, father. Son and Holy Spirit, amen. Please be seated. Thank you again for joining us this evening at Grace for a Wednesday evening service. We don't have very many night services, but for holy days such as today, we do and know that I am grateful well, with so many devoting themselves to sacrificing things near and dear to them for 40 long days. It helps maybe to discuss why we enter into an exercise of self-denial. So many Americans hear that word and they just want to cringe. We're not used to denying ourselves of anything, are we? But that is why it is so good to take stock of lapses in impiety and why this season of restarting can be really beneficial. Said differently. Why the path of penitence is where our hearts yearn to.

Well, what has traditionally been a season of preparation. The goal of Lent is not simply to punish ourselves, to deny ourselves, to say no to everything in sight. No, that's not the reason for Lent the goal of this preparation. This season is much more profound than merely throwing sackcloth and ashes on ourselves. There is this fancy theological word called atonement, which basically means you're making amends. And believe me, it is not our nature, it just isn't. But if we do it, it is a gift from God, a pathway to uncovering our true natures and true yearnings, thereby God's true nature.

In the coming weeks, we will have about six. We must acknowledge that we are broken, and I hope we do this without shame, without fear. It is a time that we, if we dare take off the masks that we have so carefully crafted, constructed. This is a time where if given to the season of Lent, we don't give any excuses as to why we can't. We can't ignore it anymore. We can't lie to ourselves about it anymore. And we can't say that excess is really good for our souls, our hearts and our minds Today. Our failures are brought to the surface, and if we are brave enough, we hand them over to God so we can trust and know how much he loves us.

So the revelation of Lent is that wherever you think you are, whoever you believe yourself to be at your core, whatever you have convinced yourself of what you truly are is a living sacrifice to God. Because our master and savior was first a living sacrifice for you. We belong to Jesus, our bodies, our souls, all of us, every breath, every movement, every fiber of our being. It is all his, all that's good, all that's bad. All that's ugly and everything in between. It's his broken, beautiful. There's a God who wants all of it. If we can just garner the courage to say, here, take it.

Or perhaps for some of us it's just recognizing we need to hand it over. We can't carry it more. It's too heavy. So we assess ourselves. We take stock of what tendency and habits may need to be stopped for a while or for good in order to see clearer in acknowledging that we have strayed and been distracted from our true heart's desire and from our true love. We reset ourselves. We set reset our bodies, our minds and our spirits and sacrifice and penance, giving things up and saying that we're sorry can be ways. Begin to see that we have gotten bogged down with our own absorption. Seeing life only through our lens. Nothing else matters, but when we fast and when we give up, those things we think are so near and dear to us that we cannot even comprehend living without. But if we choose to give it up, guess what? Something happens. Something happens within us, and it's this beautiful old English word that you don't hear very often. Clarity happens.

Clarity comes. The act of lowering ourselves, of humbling ourselves means stepping away from those things we think we need for a time. And as we do just that, guess what? Our minds begin to clear reflecting what the body is doing, which is basically simplifying, decluttering, getting rid of so much garbage that we just pile on day after day. And believe me, I am preaching to myself before I preach to anybody else. I get it. Lent is not about retribution from God. It's not about how bad we've been and how we need to do certain things in order to be better. We are loved by God Lent. It's about preparation. It's about movement towards him. Our true love.

We repent. We say, gosh, I'm so sorry because what happens when we do? We see him more clearly and thereby in some mysterious way, we see ourselves more clearly. And when we do as he did, we feel that something is different about us acting as we were made to ask because the mask has come off and we are authentically who we are. And we also learned that our temporary pain and entering into the pains of the cross because we give things up or because we decide to do things differently, yeah, there's pain, there's discomfort. I get it.

But in some beautiful mysterious manner, the further we step away from our cluttered patterns, the better we are able to see his patterns and thus begin to see how his patterns are the very deep yearning of which we long for. So I will say all of what I've described is gift. If we choose to do it, the clarity, the joining into his story of the cross and the awareness that he is always with us. These are the gifts that Lent offers us. And when we choose to walk with Jesus over the next 40 days, because it is a choice. You can say yes, you can say no. It is your choice. But if you choose to enter in and walk, you will find you become boundless, free, limitless, free to say yes to authenticity, who you truly are free to be courageous. We all love to be more brave, free to be honorable free, to be truly good and decent, free to love well and unselfishly.

We become this person, this person we desire to be through the purging, through the purging of what needs to be purged and resting. Where we have stopped resting. We don't think we need it anymore. But if we do those things, we are opening up space for God's grace to fill. It's what we truly want and what we want. If we search and if we ask, we will find. So mother, Suzanne, that sounds all well and good. So I'm supposed to pray. I'm supposed to fast and I'm supposed to alms give whatever that means. Yes, that's what we're supposed to do. But how do I make that real in my own life? What do I do?

Well, I will say the practice is a prayer. Fasting and alms giving are considered the three pillars of Lent. I'm going to get a little nerdy here. Tradition tells us that prayer is good for our souls, fasting, good for our bodies, and alms giving great for our neighbors. But what is so beautiful to me is the Trinitarian nature of the three pillars. And those echo the triune nature of God, the Father, son, and Holy spirit. What will you do This Lent? I've asked the vestry on a number of occasions, what will you give up or what will you take on? It's not always about giving up. You can take something on.

What about fasting? What about abstaining from a habit that you always seem to gravitate towards instead of seeking solace in excessive consumption of whatever is perhaps you just might choose to live a little bit more simply instead of doom scrolling on our phones. Maybe instead choose to read things that are a little bit more spiritually uplifting or just foregoing it all together instead of pandering to the flesh. Might you consider going without? And here's the one that hits me to the core. I had to include it. Instead of frenetic activity, going endlessly going, what's our favorite word in America? How are you doing? Oh, I'm busy. You guys know what I'm talking about? The frenetic activity that we are so wound up in. Well find a way to unhitch a little bit. I'm going to try, instead of seeking to feel good all the time, whatever it takes, what I would ask is, may we all seek to be good? Whatever that feels like, however uncomfortable that may be, the ways of entering into Lent are endless. Endless. But it takes intention. It takes setting your sale every single day and sticking with it. You can do it. It's only 40 days.

So this lent, and perhaps you don't know what the word lent means. It's from an old English word, lentin, meaning spring. May it be an invitation to a springtime for your soul, 40 days to cleanse, to purge, to declutter the system and open your eyes to what remains when all comfort is gone on 40 days to remember what it's like to live by the grace of God alone and not what we can do for ourselves. 40 days to move towards your savior, to enter in and be claimed by him. Amen.