Yesterday, here at Holy Family High School, we celebrated the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday at mass.
What is Ash Wednesday and why is it a part of the church? Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. What is Lent? Lent is a 40-day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It is a season of the church year that eventually leads us to Easter. For 40 days, we Catholics give more of ourselves to God.
Since Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, it is a time for us to reflect on ways we can be closer to God by almsgiving, charity, fasting, or giving up something that consumes us. As Jesus grew hungry from fasting in the desert, he was faced with three temptations.
By choosing something to give up, it shows resilience and sacrifice to the Lord, resisting temptation. This year I decided to give up Starbucks. Something that I love and get wayyy too much.
By sticking to this, I will feel closer to Jesus and have time during Lent to pray and focus.
So, why the ashes? Ashes represent death, and these ashes are a reminder that we need to repent. “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”Repentance is a powerful invitation in the church. They also symbolize grief: grief we feel from the sins we’ve committed. Ashes are created from the burning of the Palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday. Since the palms have been blessed, instead of throwing them away after the celebration, they are saved to create ashes for Ash Wednesday.
This year’s season of Lent, we should resist temptation and think about the things that tempt us daily, give back to the Church, and think about practices we can start to bring us closer to God.
