This is the beginning of the Lenten fast. A good beginning is important. On Ash Wednesday and the three days afterward the scripture readings focus on prayer, fasting and almsgiving (the giving of charity). In Ash Wednesday's gospel (from the sixth chapter of St. Matthew), Jesus offers advice about the disciplines. Notice that Jesus doesn't say "if you fast." Jesus says "when you fast."
Many Christians struggle with Jesus' commandment to pray, fast and give alms. People want to know how. What are the traditions? How can these be adapted to the ways we live now? There is no one right way to keep Lent. St. Catherine of Siena (April 29) said that those who practice self-denial "are happier to see people walking in many different ways than to see just one way.
Lenten fasting usually means eating and drinking less than usual. During Lent many people eat just one full meal a day. Fasting also includes abstinence. That means not eating certain kinds of food, such as meat. The traditional Lenten diet is mostly grains, legumes and vegetables. This is good, healthy eating.
Lenten fasting also means less entertainment, less music, less nonsense. We try to do things consciously, deliberately. People with health problems usually do not fast. Young people are gradually initiated into Lenten fasting, depending on their age and ability.
The Book of Tobit says, "Prayer with fasting is good. But better than both is almsgiving with justice. Giving a little to the poor with justice is better than giving a lot with injustice." Justice is a goal of the Christian disciplines. We forget our selves. We live for others. Eventually, living simply and justly and kindly becomes our way of life.
In the language of the church, this is called "mortification," which means "death to self." Mortification is one reason ashes are put on our foreheads at the beginning of the Lenten fast. Ashes are what's left over after something burns up. For Ash Wednesday the church burns up the palms and branches left from last Palm Sunday. When Lent is nearly over we will have fresh green palms again, and the cycle will be complete.
Smearing ashes on our foreheads in the form of a cross is an odd thing to do. It makes us stick out. It makes us dirty. It mars our appearance. Ashes represent death. In the past, people put ashes on their faces when someone near to them died. It was a way to remind those around them to treat them with understanding. For a while at least they would be overwhelmed with death.
Ash Wednesday is a kind of slap in the face to bring us to our senses. "Remember, human, you are dust and to dust you will return." That's what God said to Adam and Eve when they were banished from paradise. We hear these words today.
However, the words "you are dust" don't reveal the whole truth about human beings. The cross on our foreheads tells us that there is more to be said. But today these words are enough, or even more than enough. They send us off on our Lenten journey, perhaps a bit scared, but in search of compassion and hope and a better idea of the truth.
(Adapted from Companion to the Calendar by Mary Ellen Hynes for Liturgy Training Publications).