ASH WEDNESDAY AND THE BEGINNING OF LENT TOMORROW

The penitential and grace-filled Lenten Season begins with the celebration of Ash Wednesday tomorrow.

It is a season that urgently calls us to conversion and is a time for deepening our spiritual life, most especially through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, in his Lenten messages, has encouraged us to see God’s Word as a gift and other persons as a gift. He has written: “Lent is the favorable season for renewing our encounter with Christ, living in his word, in the sacraments, and in our neighbor. The Lord, who overcame the deceptions of the Tempter during the forty days in the desert, shows us the path we must take. May the Holy Spirit lead us on a true journey of conversion, so that we can rediscover the gift of God’s word, be purified of the sin that blinds us, and serve Christ present in our brothers and sisters in need.”

In keeping with Pope Francis’ exhortation, it may be beneficial to remind ourselves of traditional Lenten practices observed within the Church.  These include:

ABSTINENCE – All the faithful who have reached 14 years of age are required to abstain totally from meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent.

FASTING – All the faithful between the ages of 18 and 59 inclusive are bound to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. This practice involves limiting oneself to a single full meal and avoiding food between meals. Light sustenance may also be taken on two other occasions during the day.

Of course, the faithful are reminded that medical conditions, age, infirmities may constitute a just cause for non-observance of these dietary penitential practices.  In addition, every diocesan Bishop has the authority to alter or abolish these practices within the particular church entrusted to his pastoral care.  It is wise to refer to the particular Lenten regulations binding in your particular diocese.

EASTER DUTY – After they have been initiated into the Most Holy Eucharist, all the faithful are bound by the obligation of receiving Holy Communion at least once a year. This precept must be fulfilled during the Easter season, unless for a good reason it is fulfilled at another time of the year.

The following also should be noted:

The obligation to observe, as a whole or substantially, the penitential days specified by the Church, is a serious one. Days of penance are not merely individual exercises – they are observed by the whole Church, as the Body of Christ.

After having reached the age of discretion, members of the faithful are bound to confess once a year grave sins which have not already been absolved.

The faithful are encouraged to celebrate the sacraments of the Eucharist and penance frequently during the Lenten season. Reading the Scriptures, prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, generosity toward the poor and the needy are additional means of becoming more involved in the Lenten season.

Pastors and parents are responsible to see that young persons, who are not bound to the above requirements, are educated in an authentic sense of penance.

All other Fridays of the year remain as days of penance in prayerful remembrance of the Passion of Jesus Christ. The Bishops of the United States have recommended abstinence from meat as a penance for all Fridays of the year, although each individual may substitute for that tradition some other practice of voluntary self-denial or personal penance. This may involve acts of mortification, prayer or charity.

A blessed Lenten Season for us all!