Ash Wednesday
By Elaine Rendler-McQueeney, from Today’s Liturgy 2009
Ashes were a universal sign of grief and penitence in the ancient Jewish world. To the psalmists, they also symbolized bitterness and defeat. In the Middle Ages, public penitents wore sackcloth robes and were strewn with ashes. After the custom of public penance ended around the end of the eleventh century, ashes were dispensed individually within a penitential liturgy for all of the faithful. Interestingly, by the end of the Middle Ages, blessed ashes were considered to have special powers and were used to cure headaches and other ailments. The restored liturgy has firmly placed the distribution of ashes in the context of penitential readings and prayers.
Ash Wednesday
By María Dolores Martínez, from Liturgia y Canción 2010
La segunda lectura habla de ser mensajeros de Cristo, o bien, embajadores, que llevan el ruego o la exhortación de Dios a los demás. Podríamos decir que los mensajeros son los que proclaman la Palabra de Dios en la liturgia o en la formación religiosa. Ser mensajeros atañe a los lectores, diáconos, sacerdotes, obispos, catequistas. Atañe también a los ministros de la música; por eso es imprescindible elegir cantos que comuniquen la verdad bíblica. Cantemos de este día de salvación, de este momento favorable, que ocurre cada momento de cada día. ¿Soy buen embajador? ¿Comunico el mensaje de la salvación de Dios claramente a los demás?
The second reading speaks about being messengers for Christ, that is, ambassadors. God appeals to his people through them. We could say that the messengers are the ones who proclaim God’s word in the liturgy and in catechetical settings. The role of messenger applies to lectors, deacons, priests, bishops, and catechists. It also applies to ministers of music. For that reason it is critical that we choose song texts that communicate biblical truths. Let us sing of this day of salvation, this acceptable time, which is every moment of every day. Am I a good ambassador? Do I communicate God’s message of salvation clearly to others?
Lenten Requirements
LENTEN REGULATIONS
- Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of abstinence from meat and days of fast; that is, only one full meal is allowed. Two other meatless meals may be taken but together should not equal another full meal.
- All Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence from meat.
- The obligation to abstain from meat commences at 14 years of age.
- The obligation to fast commences at 18 years of age and ends at 59 years of age.
- The obligation to do penance is a serious one and no Catholic should lightly excuse him/herself from this obligation during the Lenten season.
Ash Wednesday begins the 40-day season of Lent that calls the faithful to a spiritual journey with the suffering Christ.
The Code of Canon Law (see below) indicates that at least once during the year Catholics in serious sin should receive the sacrament of reconciliation. “A member of the Christian faithful is obliged to confess in kind and number all grave sins committed after baptism and not yet remitted directly through the keys of the Church nor acknowledged in individual confession, of which the person has knowledge after diligent examination of conscience. §2. It is recommended to the Christian faithful that they also confess venial sins.” (CCL 988) “After having reached the age of discretion, each member of the faithful is obliged to confess faithfully his or her grave sins at least once a year.” (CCL 989)
Other requirements of the season include fasting and abstaining from meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and abstaining from meat on all Fridays during Lent. Abstinence applies to those who have reached age 14 and forbids eating meat but not eggs, milk products, or condiments made of animal fat.
Fasting is required of Catholics from age 18 through 60. Pastors and parents are to see to it that children who are not bound by the laws of fast and abstinence are educated in an authentic sense of penance. Regulations on fasting allow only one full meal during fast days but do not prohibit eating twice more during the day, as long as the two additional meals do not equal one full meal.
The interior penance of the Christian can be expressed in many ways. Scripture and the Church Fathers insist above all on three forms: fasting, prayer, and almsgiving (Matthew 6:1-18), which express conversion in relation to oneself, to God, and to others.
