Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, this year it was February 22. According to a very ancient custom, Christians were exhorted to go to the altar before the beginning of the season where the priest, dipping his finger in ashes, marked their foreheads with the sign of the cross, saying: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”, this is a very biblical statement. The ashes were made by burning the palms used on Palm Sunday of the previous year.
The custom of imposing ashes on believers came out of the practice observed by clergy and believers since 1091.
In the books of the Old and New Testaments, men who repented of their sins cast ashes on each other and clothed their bodies in sackcloth. The practice was coined by the church to begin Lent that way, meaning that they should humble themselves and repent of their sins.
This is a liturgical time of transformation, which prepares us for the great party of Easter. It is time for repentance and transformation to be better and to be able to live closer to Christ.
During this time, we make an effort to recover the rhythm and lifestyle that truly leads us to imitate Jesus Christ. It is a time of reflection, spirituality and preparation to exercise the Christian ministry to which we are called through Jesus Christ.
In Lent, we are invited to change our lives. The church invites us to live Lent as a path to Jesus Christ, listening to the Word of God, praying, sharing with others and acting justly.
Many people stop eating certain foods during lent, but in reality, instead of food, one should refrain from expressing hate, holding on to grudges, feeling envy or jealousy, making complaints, acting selfishly, being pessimistic, refusing to forgive, lying, etc. all of which separate us from our love for God and those around us.
As Hosea 6:6 says “For mercy I want, and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God more than holocausts.“
Also in Isaiah 58:1-12 we find the true fast:
1 “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. 3 ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. 4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? 6 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? 8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, 10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. 11 And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. 12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.
Let us listen to the voice of God and practice true fasting. Lets learn to recognize and appreciate the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross and to take up our own cross with joy awaiting the day of resurrection.
God bless you!
Rafa