Winterr's words
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
and Lent has begun
Ash Wednesday:
"Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return."
Lent is a very deep part of the Church year, it's a time of soul searching and of course repentance.
Through Lent we imitate Jesus 40 days in the wilderness, and we use this time to prepare for Easter also.
I look forward to this season and hope to grow spiritually, let us grow in our love of Jesus Crucified. Let us see Lent as a special opportunity to deepen our relationship with God and deepen our commitment as Christians. Let us be more generous to those in need and reflect deeply on what we can do for others and offer our hearts to be changed. As we offer ourselves for 4o days in the wilderness, and we remember our mortality.
Here are some verses that mention ashes:
"I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes" (Dn 9:3).
When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes" (Jon 3:6).
"And all the Israelite men, women and children who lived in Jerusalem prostrated themselves in front of the temple building, with ashes strewn on their heads, displaying their sackcloth covering before the Lord" (Jdt 4:11; see also 4:15 and 9:1)."That day they fasted and wore sackcloth; they sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their clothes" (1 Mc 3:47; see also 4:39).
"For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes" (Mt 11:21, Lk 10:13).
On Ash Wednesday Mass, a priest will place ashes on the middle of people's forehead. This might sound a bit unusual, however, there is meaning behind it.
Ashes are an ancient symbol meaning our repentance. We repent for our sins. Having ashes is supposed to remind us that we need to apologize to God for sinning against him and our neigbours. Many Catholics also attend Sacrament of Penance during this.
Another reason for the ashes that I like too, however it may sound, is that it reminds us that one day we are going to die. Our physical bodies will turn to dust, but , our souls will return to God. The ashes are a physical reminder /symbol that what we do now really matters because we will not be on Earth forever, we will indeed return to the earth, but, very importantly our souls never die.
On another note, I found some good
meatless recipe's here
(you can find the actual recipies on the right hand side of their page)
If you would like to know more about Lent, you can find information at ChurchYear.net
Take a look at Lent Symbols in our home if you would like to have something that symbolizes and inspires you into deeper prayer.
Lord our God, you formed us from the clay of the earth and breathed into us the spirit of life, but we turned from your face and sinned.
In this time of repentance we call out for your mercy. Bring us back to you and to the life your Son won for us by his death on the cross, for he lives and reigns for ever and ever.
10 Comments:
I just pick up on so much when I'm here!
:]
Thanks Starbender! I am honored to have you come visit me and love getting those free smiles and laughs from your site, it's especially good therapy for stress!
Thank you for enjoying and getting what I write, i'm sure many others leave confused ;)
Love x
thanks for the info, I have to admit though I was raised catholic we never practiced any of these things and am for the first time observing lent this year. I am also going to be using the church fathers readings your futur hubby set up.
Great post, Carmel!
Carmel,
Sorry, that Anonymous was me! :)
I like Lent too... I always try to give something up, like candy, cokes, french fries during lent. To kind of help me remember, I mean if it is that hard to give up on the little luxuries, how hard was it to sacrafice yourself. I also like to watch the Passion of the Christ. :) Thanks for all the cool links!
Very cool link for the meatless food =)
I appreciate any recipes you got that are vegetarian =)
Thanks for the great post Carmel :)
Thank you Carmel, that was a wonderful post. Especially when we are reminded of our mortality. Yes, this is something that many people do not want to think about, in fact, they reject this notion and living as if they will never die. Pope John Paul II was a great teacher of suffering and taught us to be prepared when God calls us.
Also, thanks for the recipe link. I'm always looking for meatless recipes.
What a great explanation of Lent, Carmel!
How are you??? I have been away from the blog for a while...but I'm back! And so happy to read your posts...as usual!
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