Lamentation After Ash Wednesday
Joel 2:12 Due to a whole cacophony of family duties and distractions I came upon Ash Wednesday utterly unprepared and unfocused. By the time I curled over into sleep, i had drunk coffee and alcohol, eaten meat and chocolate, spent too much time on the computer, too much time driving around, forgotten to turn the radio off, forgotten to go outside to pray. Not one Lenten observance even considered. That evening I had ran into Mass late, only to be tutted by the priest. As I was the reader this was not the best of beginnings. Chastened, I approached the lectern not at all surprised at the Lord's sense of timing. Joel's reading resounded 'Now, now...Come back to me with all your heart'. It's not my heart, Lord. It's the world that surrounds it. It's the responsibilities that come with being a full-time working, studying, wanting to work in the vineyard, grandmother, mother and wife. It's the inabili...