05/03/2025
READINGS | ASH WEDNESDAY
First Reading
Jl 2:12-18
Rend your hearts, not your garments.
A reading from the Book of the Prophet Joel
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.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion!
proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the people,
notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
gather the children
and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, βSpare, O LORD, your people,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
βWhere is their God?ββ
Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.
The word of the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17
β. (see 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
β. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
βAgainst you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.β
β. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
β. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
β. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Second Reading
2 Cor 5:20β6:2
Be reconciled to God. Behold, now is the acceptable time.
A reading from the second Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians
Brothers and sisters:
We are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
Working together, then,
we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:
In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.
The word of the Lord.
Acclamation before the Gospel
See Ps 95:8
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
Gospel
Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
Your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
β A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Jesus said to his disciples:
βTake care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms,
do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
βWhen you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
βWhen you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
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.β
At the end of the Gospel, the Deacon, or the Priest, acclaims:
The Gospel of the Lord.
All reply:
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Then he kisses the book, saying quietly:
Through the words of the Gospel
may our sins be wiped away.
Blessing and Distribution of Ashes
After the Homily, the Priest, standing with hands joined, says:
Dear brethren (brothers and sisters), let us humbly ask God our Father
that he be pleased to bless with the abundance of his grace
these ashes, which we will put on our heads in penitence.
After a brief prayer in silence, and, with hands extended, he continues:
O God, who are moved by acts of humility
and respond with forgiveness to works of penance,
lend your merciful ear to our prayers
and in your kindness pour out the grace of your + blessing
on your servants who are marked with these ashes,
that, as they follow the Lenten observances,
they may be worthy to come with minds made pure
to celebrate the Paschal Mystery of your Son.
Through Christ our Lord
β. Amen.
Or:
O God, who desire not the death of sinners,
but their conversion,
mercifully hear our prayers
and in your kindness be pleased to bless + these ashes,
which we intend to receive upon our heads,
that we, who acknowledge we are but ashes
and shall return to dust,
may, through a steadfast observance of Lent,
gain pardon for sins and newness of life
after the likeness of your Risen Son.
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
β. Amen.
He sprinkles the ashes with holy water, without saying anything.
Then the Priest places ashes on the head of all those present who come to him, and says to each one:
Repent, and believe in the Gospel.
Or:
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Meanwhile, the following are sung:
Antiphon 1
Let us change our garments to sackcloth and ashes,
let us fast and weep before the Lord,
that our God, rich in mercy, might forgive us our sins.
Antiphon 2
Cf. Jl 2: 17; Est 4: 17
Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord,
stand between the porch and the altar and weep and cry out:
Spare, O Lord, spare your people;
do not close the mouths of those who sing your praise, O Lord.
Antiphon 3
Ps 51 (50): 3
Blot out my transgressions, O Lord.
This may be repeated after each verse of Psalm 51 (50): (Have mercy on me, O God).
Responsosry
Cf. Bar 3: 2; Ps 79 (78): 9
β. Let us correct our faults which we have committed in ignorance, let us not be taken unawares by the day of our death, looking in vain for leisure to repent. * Hear us, O Lord, and show us your mercy, for we have sinned against you.
β£. Help us, O God our Savior;
for the sake of your name, O Lord, set us free.
* Hear us, O Lord . . .
Another appropriate chant may also be sung.
After the distribution of ashes, the Priest washes his hands and proceeds to the Universal Prayer, and continues the Mass in the usual way.
The Creed is not said.
