“The rite of the imposition of ashes serves as the beginning of this return journey. It exhorts us to do two things: to return to the truth about ourselves and to return to God and to our brothers and sisters.”

This week, I gave Playground, a more customizable version of ChatGPT, a series of prompts for Ash Wednesday homilies. And the results were pretty astonishing.

Each Ash Wednesday, our pews are overflowing. How can we turn our Lenten promises into a dialogue with those who might not usually attend Mass outside of this day?

I didn’t know Bishop Dave as well as others did, so part of me also feels like my sadness is unjustified. And then there is regret.

A Reflection for Ash Wednesday, by Sam Sawyer, S.J.