Beloved brothers and sisters,
Today we stand once more at the threshold of Lent. A few weeks ago, we began the Ordinary Time in this liturgical year A with the call to conversion and discipleship (Mc 1, 15-20). This call is renewed today by the cry 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” (Joel 2:12-13). For the next 40 days, in the desert of our hearts, we are called to meditate on and evaluate our life and maybe our New Year’s resolutions in a more profound way through the lens of the Word of God. Three points of meditation taken from the readings of this Ash Wednesday may help us in this Lenten journey: We are ambassadors in a broken world, called to be reconciled with God and to be wounded healers.
Ambassadors in a broken world
As we enter this Lenten season of 2026, we find a world fractured by conflict and yearning for justice. This brokenness of the world is not far-fetched out there: it is a reality in our own countries, families, and often our own personal lives. This time of Lent is a time of grace for us to discern where we stand in this historical chaos. In the light of Bantu wisdom, we know that we are not an island; we share this fragility of the world as we are partakers of it through our community and personal struggles, our more overt sins, as well as our indifferences and failures to do good.
Saint Paul in the second reading, recalls us: “We are ambassadors for Christ” (2 Cor 5:21). This is one of the most meaningful images to portray our Christian identity. An ambassador is an emissary who represents his country and his people. It is a dignified and yet weighty responsibility the person chosen carries, as he/she becomes the visible sign of the nation where he/she is sent. Saint Paul, in using this imagery and symbol, recalls to the Christian his baptismal promises: to be another Christ in the world, renouncing Satan and his works, and committing himself/herself fully to work as a collaborator for the Kingdom of God. This is a mission of letting God’s grace shine in our lives. Paul, in his exhortation to the Christians of Corinth, reminds them of this mission: “Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain” (2 Cor 6:1).
The Christian today, as well as the synodal Church, cannot remain indifferent to the realities and situations of our world in these historical times, where the temptation of the use of force, fake news, and the exploitation of the weak and the environment are becoming the norm. Each person, in his/her own measure, ought to discern how he/she understands this missionary call today to be an ambassador of Christ, in continuation with the call of the Jubilee Year 2025 to be “Pilgrims of Hope.” This is also true for our families and (Christian) communities, as Christ sends us to work together in a collaborative ministry (Mc 6, 7-13).
Reconciled with God
As ambassadors, we need to be reconciled with God. We cannot represent someone with whom we are not in full communion. To be reconciled with God is to be aware of our fragility and brokenness. The ashes we receive today are a reminder that we are not only humans but a humanity that is fragile and nothing without God. A constant remembering of this reality could help us in living our Christian and human call with humility and service. This awareness is an imperative step but not enough in itself. We can be aware of our brokenness but remain self-consumed in our own righteousness or trapped in a sense of worthlessness. Thus, this first step needs to be followed-up in humility by the second one, a return to God to be reconciled with Him. There is no need to underline that a true reconciliation with God implies a reconciliation with one another (Mat. 5 :23-24). These 40 days of grace are the favourable time to live this period in a more meaningful way. The prophet Joel shows us the type of reconciliation that pleases God: “Return to me with your whole heart; Rend your hearts, not your garments” (Joel 2:12-13). We know that even as an institutional Church, whose members have also caused historical, spiritual and psychological harm to some of its members and the world, we stand also in need of this reconciliation.
Wounded healers
In this mission of representing Christ, the Christian and the Christian community are to be a means of reconciliation, justice, and peace. Christ’s call to conversion and discipleship is inseparable from his call to build the Kingdom of God. He chooses us today, in a world of show and pretence, to be centred on Him in our prayer life and our charity in modesty. We do this as “wounded healers” who, although full of imperfections, are willing to be like him: “Eucharist”- bread broken and shared with one another and the world. This is what our blessed Martyrs of Algeria lived fully.
Dear brothers and siters, to conclude, in addition to devotional life, and a better closeness to the the Gospel, three books could be worth reading or revisiting during this Lenten season to make it more fruitful and to live more deeply our vocation. They are: the classical “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas à Kempis, “The Wounded Healer” by Henri Nouwen and finally “As Bread That is Broken” by Peter van Breemen
Ambassadors of Christ, let us not allow his grace to be without effect.
Blessed Lenten period.
By: Gaétan Tiendrébéogo, M.Afr.