Start of the Lenten Season

Ash Wednesday ushers in a new liturgical season in the prayer life of the Church which is Lent. Lent is a holy season where all Christians prepare to commemorate the redemptive act of Jesus which reached its peak in the cross. As we begin the season of Lent, it may be helpful for us to reflect upon the significance of the imposition of ashes on our forehead, of Ash Wednesday, and of the whole lenten season.

The ashes on our foreheads manifest our humility to accept that we are nothing: We come from dust and to dust we shall return. An insight that without God, we are nothing. Our existence is contingent; we share in God's existence. Perhaps this sums up the invitation of the Lenten season to all of us. To constantly acknowledge that without God we are nothing. We need God in our lives.

Lent then invites us to stop awhile, reflect, pray, and ultimately go back to God. As we struggle to reach God, we "fall" in His love, we rest secure in His presence. We pray then that the whole lenten season for us be an experience of going back to God, and ultimately, rest secure in His fervent love which He perfectly expressed in the cross.

May we all have a Blessed and Grace-filled Lenten Season!