Lent: The Season of Grace

The Season of Grace is upon us! Are you ready? Fat Tuesday will lead us into the celebration of Ash Wednesday.

It has been my experience that each year when Ash Wednesday rolls around, our congregation grows in size. The number of people coming to receive ashes is quite extraordinary. Why is it important for you to receive ashes on Ash Wednesday? What draws you to this spiritual exercise?

For me, this is the beginning of a beautiful time of the liturgical year. It is not just a penitential season, but a season of grace. The history and beginnings of Lent are not quite clear. The Sacred Scriptures do not mention Ash Wednesday or the custom of Lent specifically. However, the practice of repentance and mourning in ashes is found in 2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1; Job 2:8; Daniel 9:3; and Matthew 11:21.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus witnessed towns full of people reject salvation even though they had seen so many of His miracles there. He denounced them for not repenting: “We to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.” 

So, in some sense, this is what takes place on Ash Wednesday and during the season of Lent. We repent in spiritual sackcloth and receive ashes. Receiving ashes also takes us back to the Book of Genesis. Ashes are a symbol of death in the Bible. God formed humans out of dust: “…then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

Lent is a season for growing in holiness. How many of us want to grow in holiness? An important question! If this is our desire, then it is important to begin the season of Lent asking the Lord to lead us to holiness of life. “Lord Jesus, lead us to holiness. It is you, you alone who can convert our hearts so that we become like you. Convert our hearts to be like yours, Lord Jesus.” I invite you to pray this every day with expectant faith and trust, and who knows where the Lord will lead you.  

Let us look at Lent as a season of Grace. Like those coming into the Church at Easter, we too are called to be converts … looking at our own lives and our own sinfulness in the light of grace, a time for turning away from our thirsts for the things of this world to what really matters in life. 

I wish you all a Blessed Lenten Season.