by Rick Swenton

Since the time of Moses, ashes have been used as a symbol of penance. They also symbolize death so they remind us of our own mortality. When you receive ashes, the priest or other minister, using their thumb, signs your forehead with the sign of the cross and says, "Remember! You are dust and to dust you shall return." With our death comes eternal life, so the ashes remind us that we need to be prepared when we stand before God on judgment day. We are reminded that we must die to sin so we can rise to a new life in Christ through his cross and resurrection. Lent prepares us to joyfully enter the Easter Season.

Being marked with ashes at the beginning of Lent is our reminder that we are human and sinful. It is the start of our Lenten journey where we reflect on our lives and ask for God to help us change our hearts. We ask for help to be changed, to be better. We ask for transformation - to cast aside our sinful ways and prepare to celebrate Easter with the joyfulness of a fresh, clean heart.

Since Lent is a time of penance, people sometimes associate Lent with "giving up" something. Popular things to give up have been sweets or alcohol. "I am going to make a real sacrifice this Lent!" The word sacrifice means to make something holy. Instead of giving up things like chocolate during Lent, perhaps we should be giving up the things we do that harden our hearts. A great list of things to give up can be found by examining our own conscience: greed, selfishness, anger, jealousy, hatred. We can make a conscious effort to transform our actions into holy actions such as compassion, patience, acceptance and forgiveness.

Lent is a time for prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Jesus prayed everywhere and always. Do we dedicate a part of our lives to pray? Going off to a quiet place, as Jesus did in the desert, is a great way to connect to God and experience God's presence. Even in the stillness we can experience God. It takes so little effort and only requires a desire to clear our minds and hearts and be open to God's love.

Fasting is our reminder to take care of the poor and hungry. It doesn't need to exclusively center around consuming less food. You could redirect some of your time to read scripture or volunteer for community service. These noble efforts go a long way to softening our hard hearts.

Almsgiving is more than writing a check to a charity. While financial support is important, so is the giving of our time and talent. We could do things like providing companionship by visiting a nursing home or providing babysitting services to a single parent who deserves a night out. It can also involve stewardship that could include protecting and safeguarding the environment and other resources abundantly given to us by God.

Lent is our primary journey that brings us to Easter, the pinnacle celebration of the church year. Easter is the resurrection and our redemption. Our focus on Lent is to die in our old ways and make room for the new ways illuminated by the Light of Christ and our new life filled with the love of Christ.

How many people do you know who would give up their own life so you could live?