Come Back To Me, With All Your Heart

At this morning's staff meeting Aaron Bianco, Program Outreach Associate, led us in an Ash Wednesday prayer. Inspired by the song Come Back To Me, he offered this for reflection:

Come back to me with all your heart, don't let fear keep us apart.

Loving God, It feels like we are embarking on a Lenten journey together, you and I.

Today, we are invited to let the Holy Spirit purify our hearts, and strengthen us in love. That feels like what I am looking for this Lent - or what you are looking for in me. I want to remember how much I need you in my life and how much my life needs redemption.I want to remember it clearly and in the background of my day today and all through Lent.

On this day, Ash Wednesday, may my small sacrifices in abstinence and fasting be a way to clear away the clutter in my life to see you more clearly. May it help me to focus today more outside myself.

Let me be aware of those who are in so much more suffering than I am. May I know them as the brothers and sisters you have placed in my life.Let me this Lent be closer to the marginalized, the poor and all those who long for compassion and mercy.

God, I know there is darkness within me and around me.Bless these days with your Word. Let your Light shine in the darkness. Help me long for that Light until we celebrate it at the Vigil of the Resurrection six weeks from now.

And most of all, God, help me to honor this day with the ashes on my forehead. They help me remember where I have come from and where I am going.

May I acknowledge to you my short comings and my need for your loving forgiveness and grace. I pray that this Lenten season will make me so much more aware of how much I need You and your healing in my life.