On the day after Mardi Gras, a lot of Catholics will make their way to church for Ash Wednesday service.
And you’ll know they went to Mass by the ashes smudged on their foreheads as they begin the first of 40 days of fasting prior to Easter Sunday. Lent this year is from Feb. 10 (Ash Wednesday) to March 27 (Easter).
But it all begins with Ash Wednesday.
“Ash Wednesday is a reminder of two realities: sin and mortality,” Bishop Michael Jarrell, of the Lafayette Diocese, wrote in an email in a response to questions posed on the subjects. “Every edition of The Daily Advertiser contains numerous examples of both. People in Acadiana are aware of the powerful temptations they face and they are very much aware of their own mortality.
“In the words of St. Paul, ‘So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God.’ (Romans 14.12) Have Ash Wednesday and Lent gone out of style?” he asked. “I say that they are more relevant today than ever.”
Lent is a time of fasting and repentance.
“It means it’s a time for us to make a change of seasons,” said the Rev. Robert Seay, of St. Paul The Apostle Church. “Especially for the Catholic Church, we’re going through the ‘Year of Mercy’ this year and it’s time for people to reflect on doing some good works for the community.”
Seay said the ashes are the symbolism that people want to make a change, an inner change within themselves.
“And so we receive the ashes as not just a sign on your head,” he said. “But also on the inner side if we want to do a change.”
Seay said many people look at Lent as a time of sacrifice; of giving up something for the 40-day duration.
“But I kind of stress for you to do something, which is often times more difficult than giving something up,” he said. “To do something good.”
Of course that could mean volunteer in the community, or as the priest said, doing something even a little more difficult.
“Maybe you need to reconcile yourself with someone who you haven’t been reconciled to,” said Seay. “Or do something good for the neighborhood.”
Reconciliation “is a powerful step. So many people hold hurts within their hearts for a lifetime and never reconcile to one another,” he said. “And so that’s one step we can do.”
Regarding helping out in the community, Seay said “you don’t have to blast your horn about it or anything,” he said. “Just do it, do some things that you haven’t before that you can see need to be done.”
Seay said whichever route taken, doing something or giving something up, is up to the individual.
