Neighbor News
Ash Wednesday - Time We're LENT to Receive
The practice of Ash Wednesday, is the time of Lent, a time we are lent to receive.
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent.
It begins at the stroke of midnight on Fat Tuesday, 40 days before Good Friday. Lenten season dates back to the Middle Ages and it prepares Christians for Easter by observing fasting, repentance, moderation, and spiritual discipline. During some Ash Wednesday services, the minister will lightly rub the sign of the cross with ashes onto the foreheads of worshipers. It’s mostly observed by Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Methodist, Presbyterian, Anglican denominations and Eastern Orthodox.
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The cross on the forehead is a symbol of a person’s ownership by Jesus Christ, who died on a cross. Ashes are used as a biblical symbol of mourning and penance. The ashes symbolize death, which reminds us of our mortality; ashes from last year’s Palm Sunday are used and blessed by a priest. Thus when the priest uses his thumb to sign one of the faithful with the ashes, he may say one of three things:
- Remember, O man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return -- Genesis 3:19.
- Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel -- Mark 1:15.
- Repent and hear the good news.
Although, it’s not required to receive the ashes, nor is it a Holy Day of Obligation, it is however strongly encouraged to receive a spiritual reminder to adopt an attitude of humility, repentance, prayer, abstain and fast.
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In closing, Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent. The choice is still ours to be humbled for something greater than ourselves, the question becomes can we make the necessary sacrifices and use the “Time We’re Lent to receive?”
By Mary Ann Cadorna
February 18, 2015
