Message for the time of lent

My dear friends, this is a message for the time of lent, which starts with Ash Wednesday on February 17.

Ash is an old symbol for penance. We find this symbol used throughout many books of the Old Testament. In the book of Jonah for instance we can read that the king and the whole people of Nineveh clothe themselves in sack and ashes as a sign of penance.   

Although the ashes serve as an outward sign of our penance and faith, as such, the ashes are just a symbol.  The actual deciding to turn (back) to God is the truly important aspect. Ashes are only dust with no inherent value.  They serve to remind us that God has made us from dust and to dust we will return. Ashes remind us that life is a gift of God and that every life ends with death. What are we doing with this precious gift of God? What are we doing with our life?  

Sometimes we have to go in ourselves and look how we act. The time of lent is such a time.  Lent is a time to carefully examine our thoughts and actions to ensure that we are truly living a life that glorifies God!    

When the priest gives us the ashes he can say: “Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return” or “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel”.  I like the second statement more than the first.  Sin drives us away from God, but following the teaching of the Gospel, brings us closer to God; that is the purpose of Lent.  In one of the antiphons of Ash Wednesday we sing: “Come back to the Lord with all your heart; leave the past in ashes, and turn to God with tears and fasting, for he is slow to anger and ready to forgive”. 

Therefore the time of Lent is a holy period of 40 days. What shall we do? Are we obliged to eat less food then in other times? No, it is more important to forsake all things that keep us away from God. Or even more positive to do something in this holy time of 40 days, which bring us closer to God and to our neighbours, because to love our neighbours is also to love God.

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