Today, on Ash Wednesday, we have much to think about. If we allow it, this day can serve as a pivot point for our lives. With the liturgical color fading from the green of Ordinary Time to the penitential purple of Lent, the prophet Joel (2:12-18) provides us with an instruction manual:
“Blow the trumpet in Zion! Proclaim a fast. Call an assembly. Gather the people. Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God.”