The world’s Christendom commenced, yesterday, Ash Wednesday, a 40 day period of praying, fasting, alms-giving and self-denial that precedes Easter, excludes all Sundays within the period, and ends on Good Friday, the day our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was crucified on the Cross of Calvary. Lent is a season in the Christian Calendar when the faithful focus on simple living, prayer, and fasting in order to grow closer to God.
So the real beginning of Lent is Ash Wednesday. It usually begins with a Mass where the faithful recognise their mortality, repent of their sins, and return to our loving God. They recognise life as a precious gift from God, and re-turn their lives towards Jesus Christ. Christians may make resolutions and commit to change their lives over the next 40 days so that they might be more like Christ. In an Ash Wednesday Mass, usually a minister or priest marks the sign of the cross on a person’s forehead with ashes.
The use of ashes pre-dates Christianity and goes back to the Jewish era. In both Jewish and Christian traditions, ashes are a sign of mortality and repentance. Mortality, because when we die, our bodies eventually decompose and we become dust/dirt/ash/whatever. ‘Dust thou art, to dust thou returneth.’ Repentance, because long ago, when people felt remorse for something they did, they would put ashes on their head and wear “sackcloth” to remind them that sin is pretty uncomfortable and leads to a sort of death of the spirit. This was their way of confessing their sins and asking for forgiveness.
In this special religious event, the ash, too, is special in the sense that it is not from just any palm frond. It is specifically from the palm used during the previous year’s Palm Sunday or Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem that actually marks the beginning of the Passion Week that leads to His crucifixion on Good Friday and culminates in his Resurrection on Easter Sunday
Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem while people waved palms and cheered him on. Those palms are prayed over and sprinkled with Holy Water making them something of a sacramental. In the Catholic Church, a sacramental is an object, act, or ritual used to show religious devotion. That palm is treated like one and is preserved. Those palms that were waved in joy for Jesus become ashes of sorrow during Lent when they are burnt and blessed on Ash Wednesday. Saving the palms from Palm Sunday, burning them, and mixing them with a little oil after prayers by the officiating priest makes it symbolic.
On Ash Wednesday Mass, the faithful are expected, mandatorily, to come forward to receive the ashes. The priest will make a small cross on their foreheads by smudging the ashes- an outward sign of inward grace. While the ashes remind us of our mortality and sin, the cross reminds us of Jesus’ resurrection (life after death) and forgiveness. It’s a powerful, non-verbal way that we can experience God’s forgiveness and renewal as we return to Jesus.
The 40 day period of Lent takes Christians back to the baptism of Jesus when the sky split open, the Spirit of God, which looked like a dove, descended and landed on Jesus, and a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, My Beloved, with whom I am pleased.” Afterward, as told in Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus was sent into the wilderness by the Spirit. Where he fasted and prayed for 40 days. During his time there, he was tempted by Satan and found clarity and strength to resist temptation. Afterwards, he was ready to begin his ministry.
Lent is a great time to “repent”- to return to God and re-focus ones life to be more in line with Jesus. It’s a 40 day trial run in changing one’s lifestyle and letting God change ones heart. It involves fasting, going without food for days. It also involves cutting out some of the things in one’s life that distract one from God. It involves service, arms giving. Serving others is one way we serve God. Learn how giving of oneself is prayer. It is, indeed, a time of intentional prayer, a way of becoming more in tune with God.