Today is Ash Wednesday, so called because of the ancient practice of beginning the penitential season of Lent, with the placing of Ashes on the head as the sign of repentance. Reflecting back to Old Testament images of sackcloth and ashes reflecting sorrow and repentance. It was a traditional time of preparation for the catacumens, the candidates for admission to the church through baptism. For the forty days before Easter, they had an opportunity to reflect on their life, and the grace offered to them through the death and resurrection of our Lord.

But what does this mean for us today? We must always be wary of simply repeating past actions and traditions for their own sake. Each generation must accommodate the inheritance of the past for their own use and benefit. There are some who would remove Lenten observance completely, assigning it to a placing in history like the Churching of women and the commination. The idea of Lent itself seems to be old fashioned and out of date.

But perhaps we ought to rediscover Lent for ourselves. It is a time set aside in church calendar for repentance and reflection on one's own spiritual journey, as we follow Jesus on his journey to the cross. In our modern and hectic world, a world of instant communication and of instant coffee, it seems so unfashionable - so wrong to pause. We live in a society, where guilt has a bad name, and in a tolerant society, it seems wrong to consider anything as wrong-doing. In a world that is fast and furious in the pursuit of pleasure, it seems wrong to hurt, to feel guilty. Most of our problems, we are told, are caused by unresolved guilt. The solution of the world is then to deny the need for guilt.

It is the season of Lent that will stand against this thinking. In a time of self-examination, we are asked to reflect on our failures - to be realistic about ourselves.... But it is not with the idea that we feel guilty, but rather that we can deal with the need for guilt, by facing our shortcomings and handing them over to God to deal with. Lent provides us with an opportunity to face ourselves honestly, and through penitence and confession, move on.

So then Lent is about dealing with those things in our own life that do not conform to God's standards. As Joel puts it - Rending our hearts and not our garments. It is about the inner journey and not the pious action to be seen by the world. It is a very real sense a personal and private journey in the faith.

Our Gospel reading begins to explore this. Piety - (god-likeness) is the subject that Jesus is speaking on in this passage from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is asking his hearers, his disciples to look at their own practice of religion. Indirectly he asks us as well. For whom are we living out the religious life - for the world that watches, or for God who sees in secret. Acts of piety, acts of religious expression - fasting, praying, giving may be done for the world or for God, but not for both. The hypocrites as Jesus described them were interested in being seen doing religious things. And being congratulated for being so religious. Indeed, the value in these religious acts was about being recognised a being religious.

Jesus points to another way. Our religious activity is to be about God and not ourselves, their value is in the improved relationship with God, getting to know him better. Preparing ourselves for the coming kingdom. The activities of prayer, fasting and giving will draw us closer to him and help us to become more like him. Our reward will be in secret, in the secret places of the heart as God changes us. This may seem of little value to lie world, but it will prepare us to live with him for ever.

Today as we begin Lent, take a moment to ask God what he would have you do. Ask him to show you how you can best use this time to do a little more, a little extra. It might be to pray that a neighbour might come to know the Lord, or to give extra to God's work at home or overseas. Or to fast? (This is not very fashionable in our food driven society). It is about having less for oneself that more can be given to God. It is about giving God Priority. May your Lent be a time of fruitfulness and draw you closer to God.

AMEN.