Ash Wednesday
alec vanderboom
Caravaggio, The Inspiration of St. Matthew
1602, Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
"Three days after my journey to Bayeux I started on a much longer one- to Rome. It was a journey which showed me the emptiness of all temporal things. But I saw spendid monuments and gazed at all the glory of art in the service of religion."
Saint Therese of Lisieux, "The Story of a Soul" (page 67).
Today is the day of Ashes and a fore-taste of death. All that we are, all whom we touch, all that we create, will soon turn to dust and return to the earth. Just for today, let everything your make: a sketch, a letter, a blog post, or a simple fasting supper be prompted by the Holy Spirit. May all our work during the Lenten season be completed in humility, rather than the all too familiar prompting of pride and glory-seeking. Saint Matthew, pray for us.