Monthly Newspaper • DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

BRIDGEPORT– In our society we are constantly encouraged to take care of our physical health, but we often overlook our spiritual wellbeing, said Bishop Frank J. Caggiano in his homily for Ash Wednesday.

Also: click to view Bishop Caggiano’s homily in full

He said the beginning of Lent is a good time to take a “brutally honest look “ at ourselves in the mirror and assess what we do for our spiritual life.

During the Mass, which marks the formal beginning of the 40-day Lenten Season, the bishop, joined by deacons and priests, imposed ashes on the foreheads of the hundreds who turned out for the noon time service at St. Augustine Cathedral.

“Remember that you are dust and unto dust you shall return,” the Bishop said as people stepped forward—some carrying infants and young children, others taking time from work– to receive ashes after the Gospel reading.

Bishop Caggiano who spoke in front of the altar said it is important to remember that no matter how long or blessed a human life is, individual lives cannot last forever. On Ash Wednesday the Church reminds us of a greater gift, “the promise of Eternal Life and the fullness of the life that is to come.”

He said that In pursuit of the good life, we often “take our spiritual health for granted, and even work against it by not seeking forgiveness for our sins.”

However, “If we come to Him seeking His mercy. God will forgive anything,” he said, adding that we must work on the “health and spirit of the soul” throughout our lifetime journey.

Lent gives us that opportunity through three disciplines, “Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving”, the Bishop said, noting that these disciplines have existed in the Church since the days of the Apostles and they still provide a road map for the spiritual life.

He urged people to make time for prayer everyday—no matter how busy their lives– and to listen to what the Lord is saying to them.

Likewise, it is “important to fast from things that do not matter, and to give alms by helping the sick, poor, needy, lonely, unemployed, immigrant and refugee,” by making the compassion of Jesus real to them.

The bishop concluded his homily by asking what we gain in life if we enter into death’s mystery and have nothing to offer God.

“‘Ashes to ashes, dust to dust’ … are not meant to be the last words you and I hear. Let us pray that the last words that we hear in this life will be the first words we hear in eternal life, when our Lord says, ‘Come, good and faithful servant, receive the place I have reserved for you from the foundation of time.”

Photos by Amy Mortensen and Rose Brennan