Lent: Whole Church heading back to school
Welcome to the first day of school.
Forty days of learning for everyone in the Church.
“During the holy season of Lent, the Church gives us this time each and every year to learn anew what it means to be a follower of Jesus,” Bishop Ralph B. O’Donnell told St. Joseph Cathedral School students, teachers, parents and fellow parishioners during an all-school Mass on Ash Wednesday.
He emphasized to the young people that “your moms, your dads, your grandmas and grandpas, your neighbors, EVERYBODY — throughout this season, we’re all students.
“And we pay close attention through these 40 days,” the bishop stated, “so that what the Lord wants us to know this year will come to us, and what he teaches us, we will put into action.”
Bishop O’Donnell referred to the Ash Wednesday Gospel reading from Matthew 6, in which Jesus warns against praying, fasting and giving alms in a manner that glorifies oneself instead of God.
“Jesus tells us, ‘Do not do signs for other people to see,’” the bishop noted. “‘Don’t blow a trumpet before you do something nice. Don’t go telling everybody what your plan is to be good. Just do it!’”
Yet, Bishop O’Donnell pointed out that he and his fellow priests and deacons and other adults were about to trace ashes in the shape of a cross onto the foreheads of everyone present — a very conspicuous sign.
“On the playground in the grocery store or the State Capitol, wherever you go today, everybody’s going to know you’re a Christian,” he stated.
He paused and concluded by asking: “How will they know that we’re Christians tomorrow?”
The bishop then walked to a small table near the sanctuary and blessed the small bowls of ashes that had been made from burning dried-up palms from past Palm Sundays.
“O God,” he prayed while sprinkling the ashes with holy water, “who are moved by acts of humility and respond with forgiveness to works of penance, lend your merciful ear to our prayers and in your kindness pour out the grace of your blessing on your servants who are marked with these ashes, that, as they follow the Lenten observances, they may be worthy to come with minds made pure to celebrate the Paschal Mystery of your Son.”
Everyone in the Cathedral then came forward to have ashes traced in the shape of a cross on their forehead.
To each person, the bishop or one of the others stated, “Repent and believe in the Gospel” or “Remember that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.”
The ashes are a symbol of each person’s inevitable death due to sin, as well as a heartfelt desire to do penance and turn away from sin.
Catholics are encouraged throughout the year to grow closer to God through prayer, fasting and almsgiving, but the Church puts increased emphasis on those three pillars during this season of repentance and renewal.
“Loving Father,” the bishop prayed, “bless our observance of Lent so that we will live as your faithful children until death.”
The bishop also prayed for a spirit of repentance among all who bow before God’s majesty, “and by your mercy, may they merit the rewards you promise to those do penance.”
At the end of Mass, the cantor called on everyone to “depart in silence contemplating the mystery of our redemption.”
