Three Pillars of Lent: Almsgiving, Prayer and Fasting!

“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” ~ Genesis 3:19

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Holy Season of Lent, also known as Quadragesima, a time of preparation and reflection as we prepare ourselves well for the upcoming celebrations of Holy Week and Easter, the most important moments in our whole entire liturgical year. This is the time we contemplate our relationship with God and identify the areas in our spiritual life that need work. Season of Lent is 40 days of prayer, fasting, penance and almsgiving in preparation for the celebration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

At the beginning of Lent, on Ash Wednesday, ashes are blessed during Mass, after the homily. The blessed ashes are then “imposed” on the faithful as a sign of conversion, penance, fasting and human mortality. The ashes are blessed at least during the first Mass of the day, but they may also be imposed during all the Masses of the day, after the homily, and even outside the time of Mass to meet the needs of the faithful. Priests or deacons normally impart this sacramental, but instituted acolytes, other extraordinary ministers or designated lay people may be delegated to impart ashes, if the bishop judges that this is necessary. The ashes are made from the palms used at the previous Passion Sunday ceremonies.

The ashes received on the head today is a sign of repentance and humility. It reminds us of our dependence on God and our call to turn away from sin. The act of putting on ashes symbolizes fragility and mortality, and the need to be redeemed by the mercy of God. It is a symbolic representation of our desire to be forgiven from our sins, and as a sign of our repentance and regret from all the things that we have disobeyed the Lord for, and which therefore brought us into the path of sin and evil, out of which we are seeking the Lord for His help and grace, so that, He may free us from the shackles of our sins and evils. Far from being a merely external act, the Church has retained the use of ashes to symbolize that attitude of internal penance to which all the baptized are called during Lent.

For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the laws regarding abstinence and fasting are as follows: Abstinence from eating meat is to be observed on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during Lent, including Good Friday. Since Jesus sacrificed His flesh for us on Good Friday, we refrain from eating flesh meat in His honor on Fridays. Abstaining from eating meat is also a form of penance– admitting to any wrongdoings and sins while turning back to belief in God. Abstinence applies to all persons 14 years of age and older. Fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday applies to all Catholics who have completed their eighteenth year to the beginning of their sixtieth year. A person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together don’t equal that regular-sized meal. Fasting should be done out of love for God and of neighbor.

Lent is a Season of Reflection, Renewal and Preparation. As we begin our Lenten journey – the 40 days of preparation for Easter, we are called to make sacrifices and acknowledge our need for a Savior. The sacrifices we practice and the ashes we receive allow us to be a witness to others and a witness to Christ’s sacrifice. However, we are called not simply to choose a sacrifice, practice it for 40 days, and then go back to life as usual. We are called to truly deepen our relationship with Christ. Lent is traditionally a time of penance, when we try to die to ourselves in some way so as to live more fully to the Lord and to others. The traditional practices of Lent put before us the essentials for growth into the image of God’s Son. There are all in the service of love, a greater love of God (prayer), a more generous love of neighbour (almsgiving), and a truer love of ourselves (fasting). We recommit ourselves on Ash Wednesday to build our lives on those three loves, so that we may more fully become all that God is calling us to be.

In his message for Lent 2025, Pope Francis invites the faithful to embark on a journey of faith, community, and hope, reminding us that Lent is a time of renewal and conversion. He says:”The Jubilee motto, ‘Pilgrims of Hope,’ evokes the lengthy journey of the people of Israel to the Promised Land… A first call to conversion thus comes from the realization that all of us are pilgrims in this life.”

The Pope emphasizes three key aspects of our Lenten journey:

  • Journeying in faith, by reflecting on our spiritual progress and stepping out of our comfort zones.
  • Journeying together, by fostering unity and ensuring no one is left behind.
  • Journeying in hope, by trusting in God’s promise of eternal life.

He encourages us to examine whether we truly live as a community, embracing others with love and patience, and placing our hope in Christ, whose resurrection is the foundation of our faith. Concluding his message, Pope Francis entrusts our Lenten journey to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Mother of Hope.

During this season of Lent, in this Jubilee Year of Hope, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in the Middle East, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this Ash Wednesday, as we embark on our Lenten journey, we humbly pray for the poor and the needy, for persecuted Christians, for an end to religious and political unrest, for justice and peace, love and unity in our world that is torn apart by war, terrorism, and countless other acts of violence against human life. Amen 🙏🏽

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