March 5, 2025 // Ash Wednesday

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Reflect on the Word // 

My husband smiled when he heard the secret words we had agreed upon, words that communicated to him alone my desire to leave the gathering for private time together. Such secrets can guard intimacy in a relationship.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus repeats two small words, secret and hidden, shedding light on the intimacy our Heavenly Father desires with each of us.  

“But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. [. . .] [P]ray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you” (Matthew 6:3-4, 6, emphasis added). When we aim for approval and affirmation from others, rather than God, we devalue the love God desires to give us. 

“But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you" (Matthew 6:17, emphasis added). The Father is hidden within us at our very core since our Baptism, and wants us to meet Him there. When we keep secret our good deeds and hide our sacrifices, we guard the intimacy we share with God. He sees each little secret gift, hears every silent prayer, and knows how frequently we fast from earthly goods out of love for Him. He receives our secret love language of gifts with delight and reverence. He asks us to revere the intimacy of His work in us and, in return, generates His Own life in us, enabling us to bear fruit. He’s a Father Who delights in secrets!

We are marked with ashes today as an outward sign of our need for ongoing repentance and conversion. Ashes remind us that we fall short of the love God desires for us to give and to receive. Black smudges on our foreheads, though visible to all, hold secrets between our souls and our loving Father, communicating to Him alone the depths of our desire to be free from oft-hidden sins and experience greater intimacy with our Maker.

Relate to the Lord // What secret will you share with the Lord this Lent? Today?