Education in Faith

Ash Wednesday Prayer

 

 

  O Jesus, you place on my forehead

   the sign of your saving Cross:

 “Turn from sin and be faithful

to the Gospel.”

 

How can I turn from sin

unless I turn to you?

 

You speak, you raise your hand,

you touch my mind and call my name,

“Turn to the Lord your God again.”

 

These days of your favor

leave a blessing as you pass

on me and all your people.

Turn to us, Lord God,

and we shall turn to you.

 

 

 

 

Today  we celebrated Ash Wednesday at Mass. During the season of Lent we prepare ourselves for Easter. It is a season for spiritual reflection and fasting that prepares us to celebrate our redemption through Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday.

 

The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne lists the days of fasting and abstinence from meat during Lent as Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. On all other Fridays of the year and during Lent the ‘law of the common practice of penance’ is fulfilled by performing any one of the following:

 

  • Prayer – for example, Mass attendance; family prayer; a visit to a church or chapel; reading the Bible; making the Stations of the Cross; praying the Rosary.
  • Self-denial – for example, not eating meat; not eating sweets or dessert; giving up entertainment to spend time with the family; limiting food and drink so as to give to the poor of one’s own country.
  • Helping others – for example, special attention to someone who is poor, sick, elderly, lonely or overburdened.

 

Lent is a valuable time for examining our direction, refocusing our priorities, and making sure that God is at the centre of our lives.