The Prophet pauses particularly on the prayer of the priests, pointing out that it is to be accompanied by tears. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber” (v. Sanctify the congregation assemble the elders gather the children, even nursing infants. It is a convocation directed to everyone: “gather the people. That “return to me with all your heart” involves not only individuals, but is extended to the community as a whole.
The heart is, indeed, the seat of our feelings, the centre in which our decisions, our attitudes mature. Returning to the Lord “with all your heart” means to begin the journey not of a superficial and transitory conversion, but rather of a spiritual itinerary with regard to the most intimate place of our person. The Prophet emphasizes interior conversion: “return to me with all your heart” (2:12). The Lord alone can save us from the scourge and it is therefore necessary to entreat Him with prayer and fasting, confessing one’s sins. Today’s liturgy offers us first and foremost a passage from the Prophet Joel, whom God sent to call the People of God to repentance and conversion, due to a natural disaster (a plague of locusts) which was devastating Judea. HOLY MASS, BLESSING AND IMPOSITION OF THE ASHESĪs the People of God begin the journey of Lent, the time in which we seek to be more firmly united to the Lord, to share the mystery of His Passion and His Resurrection.
