The beginning of Lent is marked by the imposition of ashes. Ash is a contaminant; it can expose people to health issues. In our daily life, we do our best to take it away from our reach and clean well our kitchens, especially when we use firewood or charcoal. But ash can be used for other purposes. In my place, ashes are used to clean some utensils; they can also be used as a fertilizer in gardening. You may know other functions of ashes.
As it is usually mentioned in the Bible, to cover oneself with ashes signifies mourning, mortality, repentance, penance, or contrition (Cf. Job 2:8; Johan 3:6, Jer 6:26). Early Christians had been using this symbol, and mostly it was for sinners a pubic sign of penitence. Down the years, the imposition of ashes has taken different forms until the form and the meaning we have today. In fact, as we smear ourselves with ashes, we mourn for our sins. We heed the message that is given to us:” Repent and believe in the Gospel”. We are all sinners; however, we are not despairing sinners, but hoping sinners.[1] Our hope is always in Christ Jesus. With the imposition of ashes, we are also reminded of the lowly origin of man. The traditional Ash Wednesday formula states, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return". Man’s origin had been from the dust of the earth (Gen2:7). Thus, ashes symbolized our frailty. The final destiny of our bodies is to the dust of the earth from which we once came. However, we believe that, just as Christ was resurrected with his gloried body, so will we be on the Last Day.
On Ash Wednesday, the opening antiphon helps us to enter in the atmosphere of Lent: “Lord, you are merciful to all, and hate nothing you have created. You overlook the sins of men [ and women] to bring them to repentance.” You are the Lord our God. This profession of faith is taken from the book of Wisdom (Wis 11: 23-12:1). This message gives us hope that God is ready to receive us back. Lenten Season is a time to come back to the Lord from our stray. We come back to Him with Contrite and broken hearts, asking forgiveness for our sins and resolving to shun everything that can put us again away from our Loving God. We do this with the assurance that God is ever merciful and love. Through His grace, the Lord himself calls his people to enter into Lent as we experience it in the Book of Joel (Joel, 2:12-18). Asking for forgiveness should not be limited to this 40-day season; it should rather continue throughout our life, in the sense that we always need the mercy of God.
According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, Lenten Season is on the list of the penitential days that the faithful observe and during which they do penance each in his or her own way. The Catholic Church also calls the faithful to do penance every Friday of the whole year. In order for all to be united among themselves by some common observance of penance, however, penitential days are prescribed on which the Christian faithful devote themselves in a special way to prayer, and perform works of piety and charity. Faithful are also called to deny themselves by fulfilling their own obligations more faithfully and especially by observing fast and abstinence, which are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. While the law of abstinence binds those who have completed their fourteenth year, the law of fasting binds those who have attained their majority, until the beginning of their sixtieth year. (Cf. Can 1249-12552). Usually, during those days, we abstain from eating meat, or at least to reduce the quantity. But how about those who don’t eat meat regularly? Abstinence should be done to stop from using or consuming what we like the most. But why do we deny ourselves that much?
Lent is a kind of Desert. In the desert, there is hunger and no material resources; there are temptations, as Jesus experienced it before his public ministry. But it is also a propitious place to encounter God in the deepest core of our life. During this time, we seek to grow in virtue as we deny ourselves unhealthy and worldly attachments. As we live this time, we are given a foretaste of our heavenly homeland, where we will go just as we came on earth. We will bring no possession we got here on earth. We will be our True Self with God. We do penance to turn our hearts away from sin, make reparation, asking the grace of shame for our sins. Penance also helps us to restore our relationship with God, through prayer, charity and doing only his will.
Lent does not have an end in itself; it leads to Easter. On this, we live Lent with the joy of being with God who is always merciful and love. "Whenever you fast, don’t be gloomy…; put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting isn’t obvious to others but to your Father who is in secret.” ( Cf. Mat 6:16-18). Penance should be deeply personal and private.
Allin all, we don’t live Lent because we are afraid to be punished by God. In my Language (Kirundi), we used to sing during Lent: “Ndatinya kurwa mu muriro Mana mfasha mpebe inabi"(I am afraid to fall into hell; Lord, help me to shun evil). It is like we are paying the angry God a bribe in order to appease his anger over our sins. On the contrary, let us take note of this: God is all-powerful in love and mercy. There is nothing that can stop Him from welcoming back anyone who returns to Him. No matter how sinful we are, we are always the object of God’s love. God never hates the sinners; they are the ones who hate Him. Neither does he intend to punish them: He knows us through and through. He knows our strengths and weaknesses. His hands are always outstretched to welcome us back to his fold. He loves us truly; let us not be afraid of God; let us instead have the fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10). Let us also extend these qualities of God to our brothers and sisters: God is all-powerful in love and mercy.
[1] John Rose, John’s Homilies on Seasons, Lent and Easter, (Bangalore, Hail Jesus Publications, 2009), 2.
