Please read the passage before the commentary
Joel sets his prophecy at a time of calamity when a scourge of locusts was devouring all vegetation. The prophet uses this as an occasion for calling his people to plead to God for respite, healing and pardon. It is not that they have sinned, but that they need to call upon the Lord in this time of trouble. They need to remind themselves and God that God is slow to anger and compassionate. They also need to call God to action so that all the nations would respect God and honor God.
So, we have come to the beginning of Lent. While we do come with a consciousness of our sinfulness, we also come to a God of compassion, who is always willing and able to broadcast God’s greatness and power by forgiving sins and restoring the original order of God’s creative power.
We come today, conscious of the many wars that threaten the existence of the world and conscious of the deep rifts in our national society and conscious of religious intolerance. While we need God’s saving help in all our needs, we are also conscious of our need to repent of the selfishness and greed that nurture and stir up ill will and animosity in our church, in our country and among nations.
Today, Ash Wednesday, is the beginning of our annual march to the Easter celebration when we celebrate God’s call to renew our dedication to our sharing in the Easter mystery through baptism.
Our prayer is for God’s mercy, a mercy that has always been available in the past, a mercy that will be available in the future and a mercy that is available even now. This is a mouthful, but every time we say, Lord, have mercy, we are using an English translation of a prayer that declares God’s mercy a thing of the past, a thing of the present, and a thing for the future. The mercy shown us today in this celebration of ashes, is the same mercy God has shown us from the creation of the world and the same mercy that calls all of us into a future glory to be revealed.