Mass Readings for Wednesday, Jan. 06, 2010

Read carefully the Bible passages below; THEN, take the quiz. This is an open book quiz: you may keep this page open as you take the quiz.

NOTE: You have an extra reading about where the practice of putting ashes on our foreheads comes from. Read it carefully and then answer that question also.
Name: 


  1. reading II: 2 Corinthians 5:20—6:2

    Brothers and sisters:
    We are ambassadors for Christ,
    as if God were appealing through us.
    We implore you on behalf of Christ,
    be reconciled to God.
    For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
    so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
    Working together, then,
    we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
    For he says:

    In an acceptable time I heard you,
    and on the day of salvation I helped you.

    Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
    behold, now is the day of salvation.


  1. Reading I from the Old Testament
    Joel 2:12-18

    Even now, says the LORD,
    return to me with your whole heart,
    with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
    Rend your hearts, not your garments,
    and return to the LORD, your God.
    For gracious and merciful is he,
    slow to anger, rich in kindness,
    and relenting in punishment.
    Perhaps he will again relent
    and leave behind him a blessing,
    Offerings and libations
    for the LORD, your God.
    Blow the trumpet in Zion!
    proclaim a fast,
    call an assembly;
    Gather the people,
    notify the congregation;
    Assemble the elders,
    gather the children
    and the infants at the breast;
    Let the bridegroom quit his room
    and the bride her chamber.
    Between the porch and the altar
    let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
    And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people,
    and make not your heritage a reproach,
    with the nations ruling over them!
    Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’”

    Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
    and took pity on his people.



  1. Responsorial Psalm 51: (3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17)

    R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
    Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
    in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
    Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
    and of my sin cleanse me.
    R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

    For I acknowledge my offense,
    and my sin is before me always:
    “Against you only have I sinned,
    and done what is evil in your sight.”
    R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

    A clean heart create for me, O God,
    and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
    Cast me not out from your presence,
    and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
    R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

    Give me back the joy of your salvation,
    and a willing spirit sustain in me.
    O Lord, open my lips,
    and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
    R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.



  1. Gospel Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 from the New Testament
    Jesus said to his disciples:
    “Take care not to perform righteous deeds
    in order that people may see them;
    otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
    When you give alms,
    do not blow a trumpet before you,
    as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
    to win the praise of others.
    Amen, I say to you,
    they have received their reward.
    But when you give alms,
    do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
    so that your almsgiving may be secret.
    And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
    “When you pray,
    do not be like the hypocrites,
    who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
    so that others may see them.
    Amen, I say to you,
    they have received their reward.
    But when you pray, go to your inner room,
    close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
    And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

    “When you fast,
    do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
    They neglect their appearance,
    so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
    Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
    But when you fast,
    anoint your head and wash your face,
    so that you may not appear to be fasting,
    except to your Father who is hidden.
    And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”


  1. Ashes in the Bible

    The prophet Jeremiah calls for repentance this way: "O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, roll in the ashes" (Jer 6:26).

    The prophet Daniel pleaded for God to rescue Israel with sackcloth and ashes as a sign of Israel's repentance: "I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes" (Dn 9:3).

    When the prophet Jonah preached in the great city of Nineveh, his message was carried to the king of Nineveh. "When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes" (Jon 3:6).

    Just prior to the New Testament period, the Maccabees fighting for Jewish independence prepared for battle using ashes: "That day they fasted and wore sackcloth; they sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their clothes" (1 Mc 3:47; see also 4:39).

    In the New Testament, Jesus refers to the use of sackcloth and ashes as signs of repentance: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes" (Mt 11:21, Lk 10:13).

    Ashes in the History of the Church

    Despite all these references in Scripture, the use of ashes in the Church left only a few records in the first millennium of Church history. At the beginning of the 11th century, Abbot Aelfric notes that it was customary for all the faithful to take part in a ceremony on the Wednesday before Lent that included the imposition of ashes. Near the end of that century, Pope Urban II called for the general use of ashes on that day. Only later did this day come to be called Ash Wednesday.

    At first, clerics and men had ashes sprinkled on their heads, while women had the sign of the cross made with ashes on their foreheads. Eventually, of course, the ritual used with women came to be used for men as well.

    In the 12th century the rule developed that the ashes were to be created by burning palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday. Many parishes today invite parishioners to bring such palms to church before Lent begins and have a ritual burning of the palms after Mass.


    When we receive ashes on our foreheads, we remember who we are. We remember that we are creatures of the earth ("Remember that you are dust"). We remember that we are mortal beings ("and to dust you will return"). We remember that we are baptized. We remember that we are people on a journey of conversion ("Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel"). We remember that we are members of the body of Christ (and that smudge on our foreheads will proclaim that identity to others, too).






Mrs. Moroles
Oratory Athenaeum
Pharr, TX