By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
The Ash Wednesday admonition from the Lord Jesus to pray, fast and give alms – when done faithfully – are the driving forces that give God an opening for repentance, conversion and deep-seated change in a person’s life. The big three make fertile the soil of one’s heart and mind to welcome the grace of God in expectant faith.

When the desire to repent awakens in a person’s soul what are the signs that the hands of divine providence are at work?

Psalm 51 is the classic prayer of repentance and restored hope that the tradition says is the heartfelt plea of King David after he had sinned grievously in adultery with Bathsheba in combination with the murder of her husband Uriah the Hittite.

The psalm below portrays the journey of a soul as he or she passes from the stages of deep-seated sorrow to the joy of right relationship with God, with others and the proper stance in worship, all accomplished by God’s saving grace.

Have mercy on me, God, in accord with your merciful love; in your abundant compassion blot out my transgressions. Thoroughly wash away my guilt and from my sin cleanse me. For I know my transgressions; my sin is always before me.

Against you, you alone have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your eyes. Behold, you desire true sincerity, and secretly you teach me wisdom. Cleanse me with hyssop that I may be pure; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

You will let me hear gladness and joy; the bones you have crushed will rejoice. Turn away your face from my sins; blot out all my iniquities. A clean heart create for me, God; renew within me a steadfast spirit. Do not drive me from before your face, nor take from me your holy spirit.

Restore to me the gladness of your salvation; uphold me with a willing spirit. I will teach the wicked your ways, that sinners may return to you.

Lord, you will open my lips, and my mouth will proclaim your praise. My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit. A contrite, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn. (Psalm 51)

The rush of God’s mercy like an unfailing stream over King David is every man and every woman’s experience when brought to their knees with the weight of sin and raised up in the freedom of forgiveness.

All of the penitential psalms in one way or another anticipate the life, death, and resurrection of God’s beloved Son, and the power of the Cross to forgive and reconcile. Psalm 51, in the manner of St. Augustine in his Confessions, uniquely reveals the depravity of sin and the bounty of God’s mercy. It is not surprising then that the Church selects this psalm on Ash Wednesday in anticipation of the second reading from St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians where the apostle assures us that we are a new creation in Jesus Christ. The gift of God’s mercy that we receive In the Sacrament of Reconciliation or in whatever moment or situation in our lives is both personal and relational.

On Ash Wednesday we heard this in St. Paul’s words:

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. … 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.

The Lord invites us today, not tomorrow, to be reconciled to God, to one another, and as his ambassadors to pray and work for peace in our world.

May we receive the grace of God in all its beauty, goodness, and truthfulness in order to bear fruit that will last as his disciples in a world crying out for peace and unity.