Today is Ash Wednesday – Feria Quarta Cinerum, the start of our
40 days of preparation for the three-days of remembering and celebrating the
Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ also known as The Paschal Triduum.
Scriptural
and Historical Basis
In
this Mass, we will witness the blessing of the ashes, which came from the
burned old palms which was blessed last year’s Palm Sunday.
The ashes that will be imposed to our head (crown) is a
reminder that all of us came from dust and to dust we shall return (Genesis 3:19). As mortals, we are nothing.
We became something because God gave us life and by making us his children by
the waters of Baptism. But due to sin, all of us experience death as consequence.
Nevertheless our God is merciful, slow to anger and rich and compassion (Ps
103:8). The ashes are reminders of our nothingness and to return to the very
source of our life: God. We may be ashes, but we are still children of God.
The second symbolism of the ashes is repentance. During
the early years of Christianity, those who were excommunicated or have gravely
sinned underwent a season of penance and reconciliation. On this day, the
penitents bathe themselves with ashes, vest themselves with sackcloth, fast and
abstain, and they stay outside the church to beg God’s mercy and the prayers of
the faithful. On Holy Thursday, these penitents, after showing the sincere
repentance and renewal, are welcomed back into the Church and, with the
faithful, celebrate with joy the Lord’s Paschal Mystery.
Today
As
we heard in the second symbolism of ashes, let us not only focus on our human
mortality but trust in God’s mercy through repentance and belief in the Gospel.
The imposition of ashes in the head is not obligatory.
Let us ask ourselves first: “Am I ready to repent? To change? To renew myself
and return to God my Father?” Repentance and renewal leads to holiness and joy
with Our Lord Jesus Christ, who will die for us, to save us from sin, and will
rise from the dead to accompany us to the Father.
Like Hosea’s wife, the Prodigal Son, the Penitents in
history, we are invited to return to the Father by manifesting our sincerity to
receive these ashes.
Challenge
Repentance and renewal start with our observance of the
discipline of lent. Starting today, those who are ready to return sincerely to
the Father are invited to do the following:
- Frequent
Prayer, especially meditation on the Passion of Our Lord like the Stations of
the Cross.
- Frequent
Confession and attendance in the daily Eucharist.
- Today, Ash Wednesday, and all Fridays
of Lent and Good Friday: those who are ready, or by virtue of Canon Law those
who are 14 years old and above, must do abstinence. Meaning, abstaining from
eating meat or another food, even our vices. And for 16 years old and above, to
observe fasting, meaning eating one full meal in a day, while the other meal
time are intake of small number of food like only bread and water.
- To do Works of Mercy, or giving alms
to the poor out of what is saved through fasting and abstinence.
The Chair of
Saint Peter
In the General
Calendar, for outside Lent, February 22 marks the feast of the Chair of Saint
Peter, not the literal chair, but the day of remembering Saint Peter’s primacy
over the Church also known as the parentalia
(for the Roman, it is a day of remembering their ancestors).
Today,
as we start our observance of Lent, it is fitting that one way of renewal and
repentance is to profess our fidelity and love to the Successor of Saint Peter,
the Pope. In a special way, let us remember His Holiness Benedict XVI in our
prayers, and to pray to Jesus, who chose Simon Peter and the Head of the Catholic
Church, to help us be faithful to his Vicar here on earth.
