Lenten Meditation Prayer

The song of ashes

Seems as pronounced

As the single

Note of a bell

God invites us into the mystery

Of death,

Becoming unbelievable birth.

“Come into my sacred heart

And meet my compassionate voice.”

O Christ,

From what are we dying?

Into what are we birthing?

The question ring

In the solemn clang

Of the Lenten bells.

Something in the sound

Reveals his love

Telling us to abandon fear

And enter the place where

The questions of the heart are resolved.

The song of ashes

Is at once frightening and inviting.

We have no choice

But to respond

and begin, once again,

the marvelous walk into life

-From “Celebrating Saints and Seasons,” by Jeanne Hunt