We are Christians,
and we are trying to follow the Lord Jesus as his disciples in the Roman
Catholic Rite. There are other rites in communion with the Roman Catholic
Church such as the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine, and other
unique rites in India, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, Iraq, Hungary, Slovakia, Egypt,
Eritrea, Romania, Ethiopia, and in eight other countries. We believe God can
strengthen our will to make good changes in our lives.
In addition to
these 23 Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, there are 17 autonomous Orthodox
Churches in the world. All of these Christians observe the liturgical seasons
of Lent and Easter, and also make use of ashes on Ash Wednesday to make visible
their commitment to live a life of conversion in living their faith in God the
Father through the Lord Jesus, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Jesus
constantly called people to turn away from sin and believe the good news.
Many people think
they cannot stop doing evil or improve loving others or to forgive those who
have hurt us and pray for their good. Ashes express our mortality and regret
for our sins, and our intention to repent – to turn away from sin and turn back
to the Lord – and to count on the Lord’s grace to help us remain faithful to
Him, to help us forgive and love our neighbour.
“Have
mercy, O Lord, for we have sinned!”
Generally,
Christians in churches of what is called the Protestant Reformation are also
trying to follow the Lord Jesus as his disciples, but most of them have done
away with elements traditionally observed in Catholic and Orthodox Churches. These
churches have in general abandoned using ashes on Ash Wednesday to give visible
expression to the commitment to live a life of repentance and conversion;
although some of them have come back to using ashes on this occasion of entering
into the season of Lent.
We know that the
first disciples of Jesus were all Jews. The use of ashes in order to do penance
and practice repentance was continued by Jews when they became Christians, and
it became a standard practice for all Christians. Most of us are descendants by
faith of those peoples whom Jews called Gentiles or non-Jews. When they became
Catholic Christians, they also adopted making use of ashes to deepen their life
of conversion.
“Have
mercy, O Lord, for we have sinned!”
They put aside
their comfortable clothes and put on sackcloth, like burlap, which is very
rough and uncomfortable. Then, they would dishevel their hair and pour ashes on
top of their head. It seems a contradiction that renouncing comfort for a short
or long period of time, and accepting to endure discomfort as a penance,
strengthens our faith, but it does. In part, it is because peacefully accepting
to renounce our comfort strengthens our character.
“Have mercy, O Lord, for we have sinned!”
Penitential practices
which renounce comfort for a time actually intensify religious dispositions
such as openness to God, docility to the Holy Spirit, and willingness to accept
to do the will of God. Fasting is the penitential practice of giving up certain
foods and remaining hungry; while eating enough to maintain sufficient energy
to be able to get through the day and accomplish our duties without passing
out. In addition, remaining physically hungry makes our hunger for God more
intense; which makes our religious experiences more intentional.
“Have mercy, O Lord, for we have sinned!”
When I feel physically
hungry and thirsty, this state in my body helps me become more aware of my
soul’s hunger and thirst for God, for his life-giving Word, and for Jesus, the
Bread of Life. Being in a state of fasting and penance also helps us to be more
aware of the quiet and gentle movements of the Holy Spirit deep in our soul.
The more aware we are of the presence and action of God within us, the easier
it is for us to become friends of God.
“Have
mercy, O Lord, for we have sinned!”
The money we save
by eating less and giving up treats and luxuries, we can then give away as alms
for the poor, to alleviate the suffering of those who are starving, or who
don’t have safe drinking water. In addition, when we accept to endure in our
body such states as hunger, thirst, and discomfort; these minor sufferings not
only intensify the quality of our awareness, but they also help to intensify
the desire for God with which we enter into times of prayer. Our times of
prayer can be very brief, like sending to the Lord swift word arrows like:
“Lord Jesus, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” As we enter
into longer periods of prayer and keep silence in our hearts, our hunger,
thirst, and discomfort can also help us express to God with much more intensity
all that that is in our heart and our need for God to give us life.
“Have
mercy, O Lord, for we have sinned!”
“Mary
Mother of God, St. Joseph, help us walk in
the steps of Jesus. O my
Jesus, I trust in You! Thank You; You who are God, the
Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
In silence now, the Holy
Spirit helps us to unite our offering of ourselves to that of Jesus….
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