Sermon by Father Alex McAllister SDS        Index

Ash Wednesday

In the second reading we heard St Paul say that We are ambassadors for Christ. We certainly are; anyone who knows anything about us knows that we are Catholics. They know us to be followers of Jesus. And everything we say or do is looked at with that in mind.

We are judged by the standards they would apply to Jesus. Sometimes those judgements are very severe, especially when we haven’t lived up to the standards he set us.

When I was in Rome I was occasionally invited to a reception at the residence of the British Ambassador to the Holy See. It was a splendid house and the ambassador, a lady, was always very elegantly dressed. The staff were very gracious and everything possible was done to stress the dignity of her office and to impress the natives with the prestige of the Royal Family and Britain as a modern nation state.

We are ambassadors for Christ. Today we are marked with ashes. And if we are to think of the role of an ambassador as someone who tries to impress one would think that this was something a little strange.

But we are speaking of Christ, the greatest paradox to hit this world. His authority and prestige are beyond comparing with anything this world can produce and yet he chooses to become the lowest of the low. He chooses to assume our human nature and to undergo torture and death at the hands of a few thugs in order to bring about our salvation. In order to save us from our sins and to open up the gateway to everlasting life.

And the sign we bear on our foreheads is a cross of ashes. This sign of transience, degradation and death we wear with the greatest possible pride for it is the sign of our salvation and deliverance.