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Normally on Ash Wednesday, as we reflect on the reading from Matthew, we think about how to make our worship about God and not about statues. This is not an issue during a pandemic when we are all at home with no one to see us.
There’s something freeing in that. We no longer have to worry about what others see. We can focus more fully on our own prayer. We can focus more fully on our own relationship with God.
Paul speaks today of penitence and removing all barriers between ourselves and God. That is what this time for us is, if only we will let it be so.
As you continue in this time on your own and, perhaps, in isolation, take this time to focus on the one thing that matters: your relationship with God. This is the time for hope. This is the time for renewal. Renew your relationship with God so that you can be whole again.