02/22/2026

Did you happen to come to Ash Wednesday Mass? It was a good crowd, for both 7AM and 7PM Mass, like a holyday obligation, (And like last year, again, Fr. Tim “messed up” my forehead with ashes; It didn’t even look like a cross. It doesn’t have to be a cross, though. Still, I drew a beautiful cross on your foreheads. I think I was a “better” artist than Fr.Tim.)

As you know, Ash Wednesday Mass is not a Holyday Obligation. Yet, we, the church, treats it as one of the most serious days in the Catholic calendar. Why do you think the church doesn’t establish it as a holyday obligation?

Ash Wednesday is not about the Canon Law, but about conversion. It is not about command, but about conscience. The church does not force people to begin Lent, because repentance cannot be forced. Turning back to God must come from the heart, so instead of an obligation, the church gives an invitation, a spiritual call, a loving reminder. So I would say it is a holy day of decision where we respond with our resolutions, reflections, and repentance.

         Likewise, our Lenten journey is not about rules; it’s about relationship, not about Law; but about Love, not about obligation; but about conversion.

This idea resonates in today’s first reading. The story of Original sin. Let’s see how sin sneaks in and breaks our relationship with God. The serpent asks, “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” And the Woman answers, ““We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’”

In this conversation, we see that the relationship has already been distorted. The serpent belittled their loving relationship with God into merely a legal relationship, like a relationship of prohibition or permission.

This is how evil sneaks into our relationship with God. Our faith is not about the rules, nor about avoiding punishment by adhering to the Law. It is about God’s love and forgiveness despite our sins and deficiencies, and our response accordingly.

Today’s gospel also treats the theme of relationship. The tempter challenges Jesus with a conditional premise: "If you are the Son of God."

- “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.”

- “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.”

These were not merely about Jesus’ hunger or ability. It was about his relationship with God the Father. And it is a preview of the very last temptation coming to Jesus on the cross. “Save yourself, if you are the Son of God, [and] come down from the cross!” The tempter tries to shatter Jesus’s relationship with God, tempting him to take the initiative in his relationship with God the Father.

The same temptation always aims at us, too. The tempter sometimes lures us, especially in our prayers, to take the initiative over God to steer Him at our will.

But Jesus shows us how to navigate our spiritual journey, overcoming the waves of temptation. He doesn’t argue, but simply affirms trust.

- “One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”

- “You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”

In spiritual theology, we call this the "Phase of Passivity." This is not a helpless or "do-nothing" faith; This is an active and positive surrender. This is the state of complete trust that entrusts the initiative to God. And this is the spirit of Gethsemane: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done.”

May your Lenten journey be a beautiful, active surrender to God who loves you, not rules over you.