Wednesday this week is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the holy season of Lent and is a day of fasting and abstinence. Very often we see Lent as being a miserable time – forty days of guilt and restriction! But this is not how the Church sees it. It is actually a time of mercy and healing. God desires our salvation even more than we do ourselves.

Lent begins with the powerful sign of ashes. You kneel down at the communion rail and the priest marks your forehead with ashes in the Sign of the Cross saying, “Remember man you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.” These words are not meant to scare you. They are there to remind every human being, whatever their station in life, that this earthly life is fleeting, and one day we’re all going to die. Without God we are nothing but dust, but with God we are redeemed.

In both the Old and the New Testament, ashes are a sign of repentance. From early on in the Church, ashes were put on the heads of public sinners, and for the whole of Lent they would carry out rigorous penances. Although public penance is no longer practiced, the tradition of putting ashes on the head has been retained, and since 1091, ashes are distributed to all, saint and sinner alike, because we are all sinners in some way or other, and therefore need to do penance. By accepting them we are confessing publicly, “I am a sinner, and I need God’s mercy, because I cannot save myself.”

Lent is a special time of grace, and we are invited to reflect on our lives and see where we have fallen short. Some useful questions we might ask ourselves at this time are: What opportunities have I embraced to spiritually improve myself, and which ones have I missed? What bad habits have I fallen into and never bothered to correct? Have I fallen out with family members or friends, and if so, have I tried to reconcile with them? How can I become more understanding of other people, and give the benefit of the doubt to those I judge harshly? Have I helped others out when I could, or have I ignored them? What can I do to deepen my prayer life and become more knowledgeable about my faith? Could I attend Mass more frequently in the week or Stations of the Cross on Friday evenings during Lent? Do I practice almsgiving according to my means? These are just a few things we should examine our consciences on, and where necessary, work on during Lent, but you can come up with plenty of others.

Finally, central to Lent, is the Sacrament of Confession. We shouldn’t allow Lent to pass without making a good confession, because it really is essential. God is always waiting to pour out His mercy abundantly. No matter how long it has been, no matter what sins you have, now is the time to get rid of them and have a clean conscience. Don’t let fear or embarrassment keep you from the healing grace that God desires to give you.

Fr Paul Gillham, IC