“If Today You Hear His Voice”

Ash Wednesday opens Lent with a gentle but urgent invitation: “If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”
It is a season to pause, examine our lives, and return to God with honesty. We are reminded that we are dust, yet deeply loved dust—always in need of mercy, always invited back.

Hibla: The Message of the Readings

The readings call us to return to the Lord with our whole heart (Joel 2), to be reconciled with God (2 Corinthians), and to practice prayer, fasting, and almsgiving not for display, but in secret (Matthew 6). Lent is not performance—it is interior conversion.

Hugot: Points to Ponder

As we grow older, we realize that some ways we learned to cope with pain, stress, or loneliness are not always healthy. They once helped us survive, but now they may harm others, ourselves, or our relationship with God. Lent becomes a sacred time to unlearn what no longer leads us to love—and to let God create in us a clean heart again.

Hamon: The Challenge

This Lent, choose one unhealthy habit or coping pattern to gently unlearn, and replace it with one act of prayer, kindness, or self-control.
Not to impress others—but to soften your heart for God.