Happy Ash Wednesday.
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ASH WEDNESDAY |
Today is Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is the first day of
Lent. The Church decrees that Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days
of fasting and
abstinence for all adult Catholics from 14-65 years. It is only
a minimum requirement laid down by the Church, but fasting, prayer and alms giving are
essential tools in our journey of conversion of heart in this season of
penance. For health reasons, the Church does not expect the sick and infirm to
fast and abstain.
What does the Church mean by
fasting? The Church's expectation of fasting means to eat much less than
would normally be eaten on these 2 days specifically, by eating one main meal
and two light snacks. A traditional main meal dish on Ash Wednesday is either
fish pie or vegetable casserole. It is highly recommended that we maintain
fasting by not eating between these snacks and main meal on these two
days. Abstinence requires that we abstain from all meat and meat
products.
We are entering into a holy
season, a season of repentance and a season which provides us with the
opportunity to have a conversion of heart. We need therefore to not just
obey the Church's decree in order to fulfill our obligation, but rather enter
into it enthusiastically in the right spirit of mind and heart.
IRONING AND LENT
So, you might wonder what is
the link between ironing and Lent? I was ironing this morning. I decided
to get it done as I had been putting it off. Today was the day to take some
action. As I was ironing, I turned off the music and allowed myself to
be in my own thoughts. It occurred to me as I was ironing that these
tablecloths, serviettes etc needed extra care to iron out the creases. In
fact, they needed the moisture from the steam to restore them. My soul
can become dry and creased through sin, so in this season of repentance, the
Church offers us a chance to beautify our souls by giving us moisture and steam
to concentrate in ironing out the creases (sin). Some creases are
small and others are larger. Both need the iron to smooth out the
creases.
So, with these thoughts, it
led me to consider the creases of my soul and what am I going to do about them
during this holy season.
I hope you all get a lot of
''spiritual ironing'' done during Lent so that by Easter dawn your soul will
have new life.
