It’s Ash Wednesday! As we enter the season of Lent, let us reflect and prepare for the Resurrection of Christ. It’s a time of fasting, almsgiving and repentance. It’s a time to realize we are never alone. That during these next few weeks leading up to Easter, we can draw closer to Jesus every day by denying ourselves of our worldly comforts.
The next 40 days are going to be a challenge. Many give up sweets and certain foods or drink. We let go of bad habits and try to incorporate good ones. It’s 40 days of reflection, we should be able to do 40 days, right? Easy-peasy.
But as we enter in, we realize it isn’t so easy. So many things in the world try to get us to give up. There are so many distractions in life. Here in America, we don’t have to do without much. But this is exactly the time when we shouldn’t give up. This is the time to lean in and lean on the One who gave up His life for our sin. He is right there with us. We are never alone.
Action Steps
Draw closer to Jesus this Lent. Take on praying a daily rosary or go to daily Mass. Do something for others. Sacrifice your time for someone else. Fast and abstain from meat today and on Fridays. Go to confession. (–You know that big revival going on at Asbury University in Kentucky started with a student confessing his sins before the crowd.) Change begins with confession. Just go.
Receiving ashes on the forehead is an outward sign of an inward grace. There’s something powerful about having the sign of the cross traced on your forehead with ashes that is transforming.
These next 40 days, keep track of your challenges. Reflect on and then schedule things in your calendar. Write down or journal what you are feeling and how it’s going. Jesus can change your heart in an instant. You are never alone. God is always working within if you just ask Him in.
I realize that not everyone who reads this is Catholic. But it’s what I know. It’s how I practice my faith. I write about what I know. If you want to know more or have questions about Catholicism, leave a comment below. If I don’t know the answer, one of the four priests in my family of parishes certainly will.
Thanks for following along. I appreciate you.–Barb