KHÔRA

ASH WEDNESDAY 1st Reading (Joel 2:12-18),  Responsorial Psalm: 50,  2nd Reading (2Cor 5:20–6,2):  Gospel text (Mt 6:1-6.16-18) Lent brings with it a certain kind of dryness; it's not so much a fight for the nostalgia of going back to that place of unrestrained excitement, but rather a need to embrace solitude—not loneliness, mind you;  it's more about being "attentive". With  Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day falling on the same day this year, people will be in church whether they feel totally at home there or not, and while many seem to struggle with which comes first, we shouldn't mock ourselves into believing that the two can't go together.  What if Lent invites us to be more attentive. Isn't that what love commands, to be attentive to what is dear to us and what we cherish most? What if the ashes on my forehead urge me to remember the love of a friend that I have wasted, and to be converted by a sincere remembrance and encounter, to be attentive to...