7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wednesday of this week is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent. There are some people who seem to have a mistaken understanding of the reception of ashes and assign more importance to receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday than they do to attending Sunday Mass. Do not be misled. The ashes are NOT a Sacrament. They are what is called a “sacramental” and are no different than blessing yourself with Holy Water when you enter or leave the church. What is exceptional about the reception of ashes is that it normally occurs only one day a year (on Ash Wednesday), and that it is an outward sign – a public declaration, if you will – that one is a sinner and is in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness. If we receive the ashes and then do not follow it up with a Sacramental Confession at some point during Lent, we have done nothing but condemn ourselves as hypocrites.

Prayer, fasting, and charitable giving are the traditional penitential practices associated with the season of Lent. Lent is a time of penance and conversion of heart from sin and sinful ways. The words that are spoken as we receive ashes on Ash Wednesday set the tone for the Lenten season: “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” Although we must continually strive to live sound Christian lives throughout the entire year, Lent offers us a special opportunity to focus more intensely on putting away our misdeeds and becoming more Christ-like. It is particularly important during this season to seek God’s mercy and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession).

All Catholics who are 14 years of age or older are required to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all the Fridays during Lent as an act of penance. This includes all forms of meat such as beef, pork, and poultry. Fish and other seafood are permitted. Fasting is observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday by all Catholics who are between the ages of 18 and 59. Those who are bound by this rule may eat only one full meal during a day of fasting. Two smaller meals are permitted as necessary to maintain strength according to one’s needs, but eating solid foods between meals is not permitted, unless required for taking medicine. Bodily fasting is a symbol of our true spiritual fast from sin and vice, as well as a means to attain it. We unite our fasting to that of Jesus who fasted in the desert for forty days as He prepared to begin His public ministry (Matthew 4:2). Fasting and abstinence also enables us, in some small way, to stand in solidarity with the poor throughout the world for whom hunger is a daily reality. Through the penitential disciplines of fast and abstinence, we anticipate the renewal of our baptismal commitment on Easter.