Dear sisters and brothers, here life begins again! On this Ash Wednesday, we Christians begin our time of joyful penitence – seeking to set aside, wipe away, those things that prevent us from drawing closer to Christ. It is a time when we take a deeper look at what is happening to us – to say yes to life and those things that give us life, to say no to sin, and to begin a new path that traces the life of Christ that leads us to the cross and His glorious resurrection.  

In a sense, we go from ashes to Easter, from nothingness to something, from dust to glory. To say that it is a journey is not an understatement. It is a path we follow with all of the ups and downs, twists and turns, bumps in the road and detours along the way that can easily derail our pathway to eternal glory.

Today, we are given a wonderful time-honored program to guide our steps and help us in making the right decisions at the crossroads we face in life. It is simple: prayer, fasting, and works of charity.

Prayer

We have our common prayers, as well as the prayers we use at Mass, that we should all know by heart. This moment when we encounter Christ truly present we become the Body of Christ visible in the world once again. Of course, during Lent, we have the Stations of the Cross and our very special Holy Week celebrations that provide thought provoking experiences in which we can enter with Christ into the very saving mysteries that He endured for our salvation. The Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and other prayers and novenas can guide us in our conversation with the Lord by not merely reciting them but also pondering the breadth and depth of the mysteries they represent. Finally, we have the Liturgy of the Hours, which many of us pray throughout the day to remind us that God has truly blessed us and blessed the hours of the day as we call Him to mind once again.

Fasting

Our official fasting days are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday in which we consume less – one large meal and two smaller meals. However, the Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence. In fact, every Friday should be a time of abstinence of some sort. Abstaining from meat is great. Abstaining from some vices and temptation that plagues us is even better. Abstaining from sinning … now we’re talking about grace at work in us, including social media, misuse of technology, among other things can be a real penance as well as a model to follow for the entire family.

Works of charity

Here our hearts and minds are raised to those in need. Yes, of course, our food bank, but also our parishes and those in need who need a little extra hand through our time, talent, and treasure. We are hoping for a renewed experience of joy as we share our resources with those in special need.  

So, there you have it. Some call this a time of “extreme makeover.” It is a time when we carefully go through our lives and make incremental changes and transformations in life. These “atomic,” small but powerful changes can make a big difference in the end.  

May this Lent be a reminder of the goals we put before us not merely “doing” things but also preparing ourselves for the “great reveal” at the end when we will hear our Lord say, “Come and share your Master’s joy.” For this reason, we can rightly say, “Here [with the ashes and the grace of God] life begins again.”