Ash Wednesday and Lent
Last week we came together as a College community for an Ash Wednesday liturgy to mark the beginning of Lent, the liturgical season of fasting and prayer. During the 40 days of Lent, Christians devote time and effort into preparing for the holiest of days: Easter Sunday.
This is the meaning and purpose of Lent. Lent is a time for preparation, reflection and spiritual renewal. Traditionally, this is done through almsgiving (being charitable to those in need), through prayer (fostering right relationship with God and neighbour), and through fasting (giving up those things in our life which prevent us from being fully human and fully alive).
During the liturgy, ashes are placed on each person’s forehead. The ashes symbolise the dust from which God made us. As the ashes are applied, these words can be spoken: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Alternatively, "Repent and believe in the Gospel" can be spoken. In this case, the ashes serve as a reminder of our grief, that we have sinned and caused division from God. We accept the ashes as a visible symbol of penance. Non-Christians are welcome to receive the ashes which are made from blessed palm branches, taken from the previous year's Palm Sunday Mass.
Lent is meant to be a “spiritual battle” for Catholics to assess their relationship with God and find ways to deepen this connection. As the third Lent in a row under the cloud of a pandemic, this is more important now than ever. Restrictions have impacted our routines and rituals and this Lent offers a more optimistic outlook as we head towards Easter. To experience a fruitful and spiritually rewarding Lent, Catholics are encouraged to go to Mass more often, attend confession, participate in Adoration of the Eucharist, pray the Rosary, pray for people in need, and read the Bible.
Each year Pope Francis gives a Lenten message on Ash Wednesday. Some key points from his message this year include:
- "Lent is a time of grace to the extent that we listen to him as he speaks to us. And how does he speak to us? First, in the word of God, which the Church offers us in the liturgy. May that word not fall on deaf ears".
- "Lent leads to Easter: the “retreat” is not an end in itself, but a means of preparing us to experience the Lord’s passion and cross with faith, hope and love, and thus to arrive at the resurrection".
- "While our ordinary commitments compel us to remain in our usual places and our often repetitive and sometimes boring routines, during Lent we are invited to ascend “a high mountain” in the company of Jesus and to live a particular experience of spiritual discipline – ascesis– as God’s holy people".
- "Lenten penance is a commitment, sustained by grace, to overcoming our lack of faith and our resistance to following Jesus on the way of the cross".
Louise Barry - Religious Studies Coordinator
