It is 10th February 2016. We celebrate the Ash Wednesday. The ash symbolizes our darkness, our sinfulness and the finiteness of our being. “For dust you are and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19). Let our penance attract God not the people around. We begin a serious interior forty days of journey so as to experience Christ in us and around. The readings reminds us to come back to God the through our repentance, fasting and self-mortifications. It is time to meet the Lord on one to one basis. The readings are from Joel 2:12-18; Psalm 50; 2Corinthians 5:20-6:2; and the Gospel from Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18. The first readings provides one of the aspects of penance. A sincere and committed penance is the unquestionable acceptance of our mistakes along with the willingness to face the punishment and pleading for God’s pardon and mercy. We need not be scared of our loving and merciful God because our God is full of kindness and compassion. The responsorial Psalm acknowledges our personal sins, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned.” (Ps.50:3). In the second reading, St. Paul invites us, the ambassadors of Christ to be reconciled with God as this is the favourable time to enjoy the goodness of God. “For our sake God made the sinless one into sin, so that in Jesus we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor.5:21). To be reconciled with God is another type of penance which means to strengthen the bonds of friendship with God. The Gospel admonishes us that we must not seek attention through our penance. It is the time to return to God. It is time to submit our accounts of our lives to God through prayer, charity and personal sacrifices. May God bless your efforts to return to God. Have a meaningful Lenten observances.