Catholics observe Ash Wednesday – a period of repentance and fasting in much of Christendom, today, Feb. 22 to usher in the Lenten season.
All Roman Catholics are encouraged to attend Mass on this day.
The priest blesses the ashes (made out of burnt palms blessed during last year’s Palm Sunday) and sprinkles them with holy water before marking the foreheads of the faithfuls with the Sign of the Cross and says, “You are dust and to dust you shall return.”
Catholics leave the ashes on their foreheads as a reminder of their sinfulness. It is also a sign of the believers’ repentance to God.
Ash Wednesday is also observed by fasting. Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 are required to eat one complete meal and two smaller ones (those with health conditions are excluded) during the day and to abstain from eating meat.
Meanwhile, in his Lenten message for this year, Pope Benedict chose the theme: “Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works” that focuses in particular on the theme of charity.
The Pope reflects about the three aspects of Christian life: concern for others, reciprocity and personal holiness.
1. Concern for others: “Let us be concerned for each other”: responsibility towards our brothers and sisters.”
“The verb which introduces our exhortation tells us to look at others, first of all at Jesus, to be concerned for one another, and not to remain isolated and indifferent to the fate of our brothers and sisters. All too often, however, our attitude is just the opposite: an indifference and disinterest born of selfishness and masked as a respect for “privacy”. Today too, the Lord’s voice summons all of us to be concerned for one another. Even today God asks us to be “guardians” of our brothers and sisters (Gen 4:9), to establish relationships based on mutual consideration and attentiveness to the well-being, the integral well-being of others. The great commandment of love for one another demands that we acknowledge our responsibility towards those who, like ourselves, are creatures and children of God.”
“If we cultivate this way of seeing others as our brothers and sisters,” the Pope explains, “solidarity, justice, mercy and compassion will naturally well up in our hearts.”
2. Reciprocity: “Being concerned for each other”: the gift of reciprocity.”
“A society like ours can become blind to physical sufferings and to the spiritual and moral demands of life. This must not be the case in the Christian community! The Apostle Paul encourages us to seek “the ways which lead to peace and the ways in which we can support one another” (Rom 14:19) for our neighbour’s good, “so that we support one another” (15:2), seeking not personal gain but rather “the advantage of everybody else, so that they may be saved” (1 Cor 10:33). This mutual correction and encouragement in a spirit of humility and charity must be part of the life of the Christian community.”
We are united to others in “a profound aspect of communion: our existence is related to that of others, for better or for worse.”
3. Personal holiness: “To stir a response in love and good works”: walking together in holiness.”
“being concerned for one another should spur us to an increasingly effective love” – something which is “particularly pressing in this holy season of preparation for Easter.”
“The time granted us in this life is precious for discerning and performing good works in the love of God…Sadly, there is always the temptation to become lukewarm, to quench the Spirit, to refuse to invest the talents we have received, for our own good and for the good of others…let us accept the invitation, today as timely as ever, to aim for the “high standard of ordinary Christian living” (Novo Millennio Ineunte, 31). The wisdom of the Church in recognizing and proclaiming certain outstanding Christians as Blessed and as Saints is also meant to inspire others to imitate their virtues…In a world which demands of Christians a renewed witness of love and fidelity to the Lord, may all of us feel the urgent need to anticipate one another in charity, service and good works.”
