49. BITESIZE CATECHISM: THE SEASON OF LENT - ASH WEDNESDAY

 

APPETIZER: Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness reveals the way in which the Son of God is Messiah, contrary to the way Satan proposes to him and the way human beings wish to attribute to him (see Mt 16:21-23). This is why Christ vanquished the Tempter for us: ‘For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sinning’ (Heb 4:15). By the solemn forty days of Lent, the Church unites herself each year to this mystery of Jesus in the desert. Our season of Lent and the days of penance in the course of the liturgical year are intense moments for us to participate in this penitential practice (in spiritual solidarity with Jesus in his fasting, prayer and spiritual struggle). (See CCC #540, #1095, #1438)

MAIN COURSE: Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms and/or engaging in works of mercy; and we practice self-control through fasting and other forms of personal discipline. We are called to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ's will more faithfully. 

Ash Wednesday kicks off the holy Season of Lent. And even though it is not a holy Day of Obligation, it tends to draw more people to church than just about any the religious day except perhaps for Christmas.  Ashes have a very long history in Judeo-Christian cultures as a sign of mortality, sorrow for sin, and grieving over death. Jesus himself also made reference to ashes. Referring to towns that refused to repent of sin although they had witnessed his miracles and heard the good news, our Lord said, "If the miracles worked in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have reformed in sackcloth and ashes long ago" (Mt 11:21).  And in early Church practice, the priest would sprinkle ashes on the head of the person leaving confession as a sign to do penance to make up for their selfishness and sin.

Eventually, the use of ashes was adapted to mark the beginning of Lent, the 40-day preparation period (not including Sundays) for Easter. A ritual for the "Day of Ashes" dates to at least to the eighth century. About the year 1000, an Anglo-Saxon priest named Aelfric preached: "We read in tboth the Old and in the New Testaments, that the people who repented of their sins dusted themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies with sackcloth. Now let us do this little at the beginning of our Lent that we strew ashes upon our heads to signify that we ought to repent of our sins during the Lenten fast." In our present liturgy for Ash Wednesday, we use ashes made from the burned palm branches distributed on the Palm Sunday of the previous year. The minister blesses the ashes and imposes them upon the faithful, saying, "Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return," or "Repent and believe the Gospel." 

The traditional three spiritual exercises of Lent are laid out for us by Jesus in the Gospel of St. Matthew (Mt 6:1-6, 16-18) that is read on Ash Wednesday: 

“Make certain you do not perform your religious duties in public so that people will see what you do. If you do these things publicly, you will not have any reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give something to a needy person, do not make a big show of it, as the hypocrites do in the houses of worship and on the streets. They do it so that people will praise them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. But when you help a needy person, do it in such a way that even your closest friend will not know about it. Then it will be a private matter. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.

“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites! They love to stand up and pray in the houses of worship and on the street corners, so that everyone will see them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. But when you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.

“And when you fast, do not put on a sad face as the hypocrites do. They neglect their appearance so that everyone will see that they are fasting. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. When you go without food, wash your face and comb your hair, so that others cannot know that you are fasting—only your Father, who is unseen, will know. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you."

The above passage from the Gospels is where we get our Lenten traditions of prayer, penance and works of mercy.   We fast from meat on Ash Wednesday, Lenten Fridays and Good Friday.   This is a corporate penance and so we all participate as a sign of solidarity with one another, even if we are not big meat-eaters or even vegetarians!  In addition to corporate penance we are also called to practice individual self-discipline in our own ways throughout the season. 

The Lord's call to prayer moves us to examine our personal prayer life. We are called to ask ourselves: where and how can I deepen my spiritual union with God through Christ? This is not a matter of quantity but of quality. More prayers does not necessarily mean better prayer! The Stations of the Cross on Fridays are a most common and extremely popular way for Christians to make the Passion of Christ a significant part of their prayer and meditation during this season.

When it comes to the giving of alms we share God's gift of treasure to us.  It is a call to begin (and then maintain) a personal habit of assistance to the sick, poor and needy in any way. As the great St. John Chrysostom, an ancient bishop and teacher, reminds us: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs."  

As we begin this holy season of Lent in preparation for Easter, we must remember the significance of the ashes we have received: We mourn over our selfishness and do penance for our sins. We again convert our hearts to the Lord, who suffered, died and rose for our salvation. We renew the promises made at our baptism, when we died to sin and rose to a new life with Christ. We strive to live in the kingdom of God now and look forward to its fulfillment in Heaven.

DOGGIE-BAG: A little something to take with you for spiritual snacking...

THE STATIONS (OR WAY) OF THE CROSS DEVOTION

The stations of the cross are a powerful prayer experience. The best way to pray these is to do them at your church meditating on each of the stations. Of course, you may also do them at home or in some other quiet place.  While no specific set of prayers are mandatory for this devotion, you can find many different versions of prayers and reflections for the Stations online or in booklet form.

This devotion has evolved over time.  Tradition holds that our Blessed Mother visited daily the scenes of our Lord’s Passion.  After Constantine legalized Christianity in the year AD 313, this pathway was marked with its important "stopping places" called stations.  St. Jerome (342-420), living in Bethlehem during the latter part of his life, attested to the crowds of pilgrims from various countries who visited these holy places and followed the Way of the Cross. It became extremely popular t make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land from Europe in order to walk the way of the Cross in person.

However, around the 14th century it became very dangerous for Christians to travel to the Jerusalem to walk the Way of the Cross because of the hostility of Muslim Turks. So the Stations devotion evolved at this time into the familiar 14 Stations we see on the walls of our parish churches. Since pilgrims could not go to the Stations, the Stations would instead come to them!

At St. Sebastian's, Stations of the Cross are prayed as a group at 7PM on all the Fridays of Lent. We all together walk through the Stations as we pray this devotion. It is a very peaceful and meditative experience.  The traditional 14 Stations of the Cross are:

1. Jesus is condemned to death.

2. Jesus is given His cross.

3. Jesus falls down for the first time.

4. Jesus meets His mother Mary.

5. Simon of Cyrene is forced to carry the cross.

6. Veronica wipes blood off of Jesus’ face.

7. Jesus falls down for the second time.

8. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem.

9. Jesus falls down for the third time.

10. Jesus is stripped of His clothing.

11. Jesus is nailed to the cross – the Crucifixion.

12. Jesus dies on the cross.

13. Jesus’ body is removed from the cross – the Deposition or Lamentation.

14. Jesus’ body is placed in the tomb.

CATHOLIC CORPORATE PENANCE FOR ASH WEDNESDAY, LENTEN FRIDAYS AND GOOD FRIDAY

CANON LAW: reaffirms the obligation we all have to do penance – to interrupt the usual comforts of life, to rediscover in prayer the saving love of God, and to practice charity and justice towards those in need.  During Lent we do penance, not only on our own account, but also in the name of the Church and of the world and so our penance is corporate. We must take seriously our penitential obligations and be sure to carry them out. Of course, advanced age and illness at any age excuses a Catholic from this obligation of corporate penance if it is not safe for them to participate.

FASTING: which includes,abstinence from meat, is to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. All who have completed their 18th year and have not yet begun their 60th year are bound to fast. This corporate fast is defined as eating only one full meal in the day.  If needs be a snack may be taken in addition to the one meal. 

ABSTINENCE FROM MEAT: All who have completed their 14th year are bound to abstain from meat on the Fridays of Lent, in addition to Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.  One's usual amount of food at meals remains uninterrupted for this is not the same as fasting.