Ash Wednesday: Those Who See in Secret
Enjoy this special and contemplative Ash Wednesday service with uplifting music and inspirational readings to ring in the Lenten season.
Jean-Marie briefly talks about the meaning of Lent based on some of Jesus Christ's foundational teachings on (spiritual) fasting, including a metaphysical interpretation as to the teaching's application in our daily lives.
Experience the Sermon
Sermon Notes
Main Scripture
Matthew 6:16–18: Concerning Fasting
16 “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. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 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.
Supporting Scriptures
Matthew 6:5–15: Concerning Prayer
5 “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. 6 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.
7 “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Metaphysics
Metaphysical meaning of oil (rw)
oil, anointing--The thought of love, which is poured over anything, making it holy or a perfect whole. "Love . . . is the fulfillment of the law" (Rom. 13:10).
Readings
Lent 2021: Release & Renew
I release any belief in limitation.
I renew my sense of possibility.
I release a habit of judging others.
I renew my commitment to see the Divine in all beings.
I release all doubt and indecision.
I renew my divine power of wisdom.
I release negative thinking.
I renew my positive expectations.
I release discontent.
I renew my gratitude in all things.
I release apathy.
I renew my zeal and enthusiasm.
I release the fear of lack.
I renew my awareness of abundance in my life.
I release any sense of worry.
I renew my faith in divine order.
I release thoughts of competition.
I renew my willingness to cooperate.
I release any need to complain.
I renew my outlook through appreciation.
I release old feelings of bitterness.
I renew inner peace by forgiving.
I release feeling stuck.
I renew my will to take the next step forward.
I release any feelings of hostility.
I renew my practice of nonresistance.
I release thoughts of illness.
I renew my openness to the healing power of Spirit.
I release anger.
I renew my patience.
I release any sense of discouragement.
I renew my hope with the power of affirmative prayer.
I release my darkest fears.
I renew the strength and courage of my heart.
I release feelings of loneliness.
I renew my connection with Spirit, self, and others.
I release problems that seem to overwhelm me.
I renew my understanding of my spiritual nature.
I release the shadows of sorrow.
I renew myself in the serenity of silence.
“Mountains of the Mind: Adventures in Reaching the Summit” by Robert MacFarlane
“Mountains seem to answer an increasing imaginative need in the West. More and more people are discovering a desire for them, and a powerful solace in them. At bottom, mountains, like all wildernesses, challenge our complacent conviction - so easy to lapse into - that the world has been made for humans by humans. Most of us exist for most of the time in worlds which are humanly arranged, themed and controlled. One forgets that there are environments which do not respond to the flick of a switch or the twist of a dial, and which have their own rhythms and orders of existence. Mountains correct this amnesia. By speaking of greater forces than we can possibly invoke, and by confronting us with greater spans of time than we can possibly envisage, mountains refute our excessive trust in the man-made. They pose profound questions about our durability and the importance of our schemes. They induce, I suppose, a modesty in us.”
“Now is the Time” by Hafiz (translation by Daniel Ladinsky)
Now is the time to know
That all that you do is sacred
Now, why not consider
A lasting truce with yourself and God
Now is the time to understand
That all your ideas of right and wrong
Were just a child’s training wheels
To be laid aside
When you finally live
With veracity and Love.
Hafiz is a divine envoy, Whom the Beloved
Has written a holy message upon.
My dear, please tell me, Why do you still
Throw sticks at your heart And God?
What is it in that sweet voice inside
That incites you to fear?
Now is the time for the world to know
That every thought and action is sacred.
This is the time For you to deeply compute the impossibility
That there is anything But Grace.
Now is the season to know That everything you do, Is sacred.
“Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.