The Gospel for Ash Wednesday is taken from Matthew 6:6 verse and 16:18. Jesus said to his disciples, take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them. Otherwise you will have no recompense from your Heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow trumpets before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues, in the streets, to win the praise of others. And then I say to 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 almsgiving may be secret, and your Father, who sees in secret will repay you.

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites who love to stand and pray in the synagogue and on street corners so that others may see them. And men, I say to you, they’ve received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance so that they may appear to others to be fasting.

Amen. I say to you, they’ve received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that you may not appear to be fasting except to your Father who is hidden, and your Father, who sees what is hidden, will repay you. Jesus describes in this passage righteous deeds. One is being generous, sharing what you have with others. Another is to be a person that converses with God, that talks to him, listens to him in their hearts.

And one is about anticipating the kingdom of heaven, giving up things that do not help the kingdom to come. In all these, what we’re seeing is the power of intention. To do anything, just to be seen to be held in esteem by others shows that the reason one is doing something is not for the purpose that it was made for, but for something else. Nothing is important than we pay attention to the intention of our hearts. We are generous because God has been generous to us. We spend time in prayer because we believe that he talks to us.

And when we are overwhelmed by things that keep our attention away from the core of what it means to be a part of the kingdom of God on this planet, we are called to be attentive to knowing that everything we do that is in tune with the work of our Father is bringing about the kingdom. Closing prayer Father, we worry about Heaven or Hell, purgatory, all these images of what might happen after we leave this world and when in truth, Jesus didn’t focus on that. He didn’t teach that. He told us, we are working toward a kingdom that is now, that is here. A place of truth and beauty, care and service. Help us keep our eyes fixed on this place and this work and this will of God our Father.

And we ask this in Jesus name, amen.