Meménto, homo, quia pulvis es, et in púlverem revertéris.
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.^[1]

We’ve all heard of the story before. In the beginning of time, there was nothing in existence but the uncreated God. He then created the universe and all its natural beauty and sublime glory. In His “sheer goodness” and out of total freedom^[2], God also created Adam and Eve in a state of what Pope John Paul II terms as “original innocence”.

Then, the fall happens. Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden of Eden and humankind, even now in 2024, ends up in a seemingly endless and difficult struggle to be whole again.

For this Ash Wednesday, I would like to propose a dimension we may or may not have thought about before. It’s this: Adam and Eve fell because they distrusted that God’s graces for them was enough to be whole. The serpent’s temptation of offering Eve an apple (or whatever it was) consisted in feeding her with the idea that more than God’s graces was needed to be whole, more than God’s graces was needed to be enough. Something to think about: we are more than enough for God, for He made us “very good”.^[3] But is God enough for us? Is His providence enough for us, or do we seek for even more?

I sincerely believe that God’s grace is the answer to all our problems and questions, our burning desires and big dreams. It is God’s grace that will fulfill those desires — and indeed exceed them — all while keeping us along a moral, faithful, and virtuous path.

How do we recognize God’s graces this Lent? I would say that they’re literally everywhere we can think of. Our breakfast this morning — perhaps a fluffy hot pancake and a glass of milk — provided the nourishment we needed to start the day. A new acquaintance of mine just had his visa problems solved and he successfully entered the U.S. And of course, at STM’s 5:30 p.m. weekday Masses, Jesus Christ is made truly and bodily present on the altar for us to adore with all our hearts, spiritual aid before the incoming Sunday. All it takes is our open eyes to recognize them.

So, this Lent and beyond, let us go forward and press on, confident in God’s graces.

^[1] Taken from iBreviary.com
^[2] Catechism of the Catholic Church, para. 1.
^[3] Genesis 1:31.