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For more commentary on this week's readings, see the Reflections on the Lectionary page, which includes Berry's current Living by the Word column as well as past magazine and online-only content. For full-text access to all articles, subscribe to the Century.

The lectionary readings for Ash Wednesday are the same each year. So it almost doesn’t feel like Ash Wednesday if I go through the day without hearing Psalm 51: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.”