Ash Wednesday

WesleyMen Lenten & Easter Devotionals 2025

Gospel Lectionary

 Matthew 6:1-6 Common English Bible

“Be careful that you don’t practice your religion in front of people to draw their attention. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

² “Whenever you give to the poor, don’t blow your trumpet as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may get praise from people. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. ³ But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing ⁴ so that you may give to the poor in secret. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.

⁵ “When you pray, don’t be like hypocrites. They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners so that people will see them. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. ⁶ But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.

Matthew 6:16-21 Common English Bible

¹⁶ “And when you fast, don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They distort their faces so people will know they are fasting. I assure you that they have their reward. ¹⁷ When you fast, brush your hair and wash your face. ¹⁸ Then you won’t look like you are fasting to people, but only to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

¹⁹ “Stop collecting treasures for your own benefit on earth, where moth and rust eat them and where thieves break in and steal them. ²⁰ Instead, collect treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust don’t eat them and where thieves don’t break in and steal them. ²¹ Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Reflection

 I grew up in the Philippines where Ash Wednesday is observed with great reverence and devotion. I remembered churches across the country are filled with parishioners attending mass or worship service, where they receive the ashes that mark the beginning of their Lenten journey. The ashes used on Ash Wednesday are traditionally made by burning the palm leaves from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebrations. These ashes serve as a powerful reminder of human mortality and the need for repentance. As the priest or minister applies the ashes to the forehead, they often recite the words, “Remember, you are dust, and to dust, you shall return.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season. It’s a forty-day journey of fasting, self-denial and repentance. We are invited to focus away from our self-centered appetites and ambitions to the contemplation of our limits, mortality and need of God. Lent offers a “reality check” to remember Christ’s suffering and death on the cross and to prepare for the new life that will be revealed on Easter Sunday. Lent seeks to strip us down, remove those distractions in our lives, and helps us focus our attention on what really matters in our lives, the very condition of our souls. Matthew’s Gospel put it this way, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

However, we live in a world struggling in letting go of things, self-denial and a radical change of life. We have become so comfortable with our Christianity. We forget that there were people who risked everything because of their faith in Christ— overcoming persecutions, breaking barriers, crossing borders, defying the authorities so that everyone might know that grace is free, new life is real, and Christ’s love has the power to change everything. We forget that there were people who died for the sake of the Gospel, and there are people who are still dying for that message today.

That is why on Ash Wednesday, Matthew’s Gospel is full of harsh words and hard message. They are part of the Sermon on the Mount which Jesus preaches to “the crowds” and to the disciples. Jesus opens a powerful stern warning to those who “… practice their religion in front of people to draw their attention.” He exposes the hypocrites for their “showy religion, showy prayer and show fasting.”  And Jesus closes His message with another powerful challenge for those who are greedy, self-centered and those whose hearts are not in the right place: “Stop collecting treasures for your own benefit on earth, where moth and rust don’t eat them and where thieves break in and steal them… Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew’s Gospel here is unapologetic of a Jesus who confronts hypocrites in the synagogues and in the streets. He speaks with authority to those who are practicing their faith in ways that are more about “showing off” to others than “showing up” with God. Again and again, Jesus shakes up the comfortable world that the religious and political powers have established and a call for a radical change in our lives. Jesus isn’t safe and isn’t nice here at all. He upset the powerful, shamed the rich and challenged the comfortable. He redefined what true religion looks like and what prayer and fasting should be. Jesus’ message here and throughout the Gospel is all about turning things upside-down and establishing a new kingdom that is not of this world—praising the Samaritans, forgiving criminals, redeeming persecutors, speaking to women, welcoming migrants, and calling His followers to get rid of the “treasure” that are getting in the way in their relationship with God.

Jesus’ harsh words, stern warning and prophetic challenge in Matthew’s Gospel in light of the Ash Wednesday hit me right between the eyes. I was born and raised during the most challenging times in the Philippines. Because of socio-economic hardships and limited opportunities, more than 10 million Filipinos lived and worked in more than 200 countries. Every hour, around 950 migrant workers leave the Philippines searching for better job opportunities and communities to belong. Growing up in a nation with wide disparity between the rich and poor, I personally experienced the hardships in life. My parents and siblings had to leave the country and migrate to the United States so that we can be able to live a good life and provide better future for our family.

This Lenten season, Matthew’s Gospel is both a message of challenge and hope. Our faith must come from a place where we hold our treasure and our hearts on what is important to God— who are marginalized, suffering and experiencing difficult conditions like those many overseas Filipino workers and migrant laborers from other countries scattered across the world. Jesus calls us to confront the “hypocrites” of our time, the unjust structures and systems and those whose hearts are not in the right place. In other words, Jesus challenges us to embody a lifestyle that is counter-cultural, willing to swim upstream, going against the grain and living by a different set of priorities.

From the words of Dr. Cláudio Carvalhaes, “When our worship and pious gestures are disconnected from our work for justice…When justice is not on the horizon of our giving, prayers, and fasting, when peace is not a struggle on the streets, when the glory of God is not the bashing of racism, male dominance, sexism, and any form of human degradation, our offerings of worship will be empty. Our giving will mean nothing, the words of our prayers will be nothing more than embellished words of distancing, avoiding, and paralyzing fear and our fasting, if we ever do it, will be just a self-righteous sign of suffering.”

Prayer

Gracious God, as we begin our Lenten journey today with Ash Wednesday, help me to let go of things, self-denial and to a radical change of life. May I locate my heart in the treasure that is Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Edgar De Jesus, WesleyMen World President