Today is Ash Wednesday, which marks the first day of Lent! The key to understanding the meaning of Lent is simple: Baptism. Preparation for Baptism and for renewing baptismal commitment lies at the heart of the season. Why is Baptism so important in our Lenten understanding? Lent as a 40-day season developed in the fourth century. Catholics believe it began as a process of preparation for Baptism, including an intense period of preparation for the Sacraments of Initiation to be celebrated at Easter.
Ash Wednesday liturgies are some of the best attended in the entire year. Some people suggest that is just because the Church is giving out something free, but I suspect there are deeper reasons! Ashes are an ancient symbol of repentance (sackcloth and ashes). They also remind us of our mortality ("remember that you are dust") and thus of the day when we will stand before God and be judged. This can be linked easily to the death and resurrection motif of Baptism. To prepare well for the day we die, we must die now to sin and rise to new life in Christ. Being marked with ashes at the beginning of Lent indicates our recognition of the need for deeper conversion of our lives during this season of renewal.
For most older Catholics, the first thought that Lent brings to mind is giving something up. In my childhood, the standard was to give up candy, a discipline that found suitable reward in the baskets of sugary treats we received on Easter. Some of us even added to the Easter surplus by saving candy all through Lent, stockpiling what we would have eaten had we not promised to give it up. Lent is about conversion, turning our lives more completely over to Christ and his way of life. That always involves giving up sin in some form. The goal is not just to abstain from sin for the duration of Lent but to root sin out of our lives forever. Conversion means leaving behind an old way of living and acting in order to embrace new life in Christ. For catechumens, Lent is a period intended to bring their initial conversion to completion.
I was raised to ALWAYS sacrifice something during Lent. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of that, as well as fasting on Fridays. So, after several weeks of thinking about what I am giving up I have decided to give up candy and sweets. This is going to be very hard for me because I have HUGE sweet tooth, but through Christ all things are possible.
What are you giving up for Lent?
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