Lent 2020

Lent season is six weeks long, begins on Wednesday, 26 February 2020 and will end on Saturday, 11 April 2020. Forty days of Lent (46 days - 6 Sunday) 

26 February 2020 - Ash Wednesday (46 day before Easter Sunday)

- Ash is used to mark a cross on foreheads. It's a day of penitence to clean the soul before the Lent fast.

5 April 2020 - Palm Sunday

- Jesus's triumphant arrival in Jerusalem on a donkey, where he received palm branches at his path.

9 April 2020 - Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday)

- Jesus washes of the feet of the twelve apostles and Jesus's last supper, the Passover meal with them. Jesus establishes the Holy Eucharist.

10 April 2020 - Good Friday

- Passion and death of Jesus.

11 April 2020 - Holy Saturday (Easter Vigil)

- Faithful Christians wait and watch, hopeful and confident that Christ will return at midnight.

12 April 2020 - Easter Sunday

- Jesus resurrection.

Fast and Abstinence (Lent)

Can. 1251 and 1253: Days of Fast and Abstinence 

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of Fast and Abstinence (unless Ash Wednesday falls on the Lunar New Year day). The Conference rules that those who are unable to observe abstinence from meat on a Friday, may do penance by choosing one of the following or similar ways: 

a) By doing some work of mercy and love: to give alms to the poor, visit the sick, house-bound, aged, handicapped person or someone in need; 

b) By doing some exercise of piety: attend the Friday Mass, pray before the Blessed Sacrament, read the Scriptures, pray the rosary, the Stations of the Cross; 

c) By making some act of mortification: to deprive oneself from some favourite food or drink, smoking, a TV or video show, an unnecessary visit to shopping centers, texting, computer games or internet.

Ash Wednesday ~ 2017

Reflection

One of my dearest friends used to have a sign on the outside of his office door. It read, “O Lord, make me interruptible.” It was an act of hospitality, of course, but also a sincere prayer. I’ve tried to imitate this, but the fact is, I don’t like interruptions. I don’t like having my very important train of thought derailed, my time taken in an unplanned way by God-knows-what. 

Then I think of St. Benedict saying, “Let every guest be received as Christ himself.” Even the rudest, most untimely interruption could be a visit from no less than the Savior himself.

Lent is an interruption. It starts, for heaven’s sake, on a Wednesday. It tears a work week in half. This is not convenient timing for us, if God wants our attention. We’re busy people, and we’re doing good things.

But the interruption of Ash Wednesday is about as intentional as it can be. Today it is not business as usual. A lot is at stake. Whatever we cling to tightly, whatever tethers us or binds us or weighs us down from the true freedom for which we were made—today we want to at least begin to loosen our grasp, and give it back to its rightful owner.

Today is a day to be interrupted by God’s news, God’s good news, God’s promise to heal and transform. We mark ourselves with the blackness of the earth itself, a humbling reminder that our best intentions, our best resolutions, our best efforts have too often crumbled to dust in the ways we allow ourselves to be pulled in other directions. 

We don’t do any of these things to be noticed. Jesus gives us a more than adequate warning against religious showmanship. We do Ash Wednesday not to look good, but because God wants to make us become good. The purpose is the heart, or Lent has no purpose at all.

We have a compass, a direction for our 40-day walk in the desert, and it points to Easter. Where do want to be, as Christians, as people, come Easter? We want to be ready, of course. But readiness is not as simple as how hard or long we pray, how severely we fast or how many things we give up, how much money we give to charity or how many hours of service we do. It is really about how deeply we can yield to what God wants to do with us, in us, through us. 

If we’re not careful, our Lenten activity and religious practices can reinforce our sense of control, when the invitation is always to give up control and trust God alone. In other words, to allow God to be God for us.

“Now is the acceptable time,” says St. Paul. “Now is the day of salvation!” The interruption of Ash Wednesday cracks us open. Through that crack, how deep will we allow God to go in us this Lent?

O Lord, make us interruptible.

by: Father Michael Connors, CSC, ’83 M.Div.

Director, John S. Marten Program in Homiletics

Associate Professional Specialist, Theology

source: Faith ND, University of Notre Dame

Ash Wednesday

Reading 1

Joel 2:12-18

Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion!
proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the people,
notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
gather the children
and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, "Spare, O LORD, your people,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
'Where is their God?'"

Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14, 17

R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
"Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight."
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Reading 2

2 Corinthians 5:20 - 6:2

Brothers and sisters:
We are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Working together, then,
we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:

In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.

Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.

Verse Before The Gospel

If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.

Gospel

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms,
do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

"When you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

"When you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you."

When you pray, fast, and give alms

Are you hungry for God and do you thirst for his holiness? God wants to set our hearts ablaze with the fire of his Holy Spirit that we may share in his holiness and radiate the joy of the gospel to those around us. St. Augustine of Hippo tells us that there are two kinds of people and two kinds of love: "One is holy, the other is selfish. One is subject to God; the other endeavors to equal Him." We are what we love. God wants to free our hearts from all that would keep us captive to selfishness and sin. "Rend your hearts and not your garments" says the prophet Joel (Joel 2:12). The Holy Spirit is ever ready to transform our hearts and to lead us further in God's way of truth and holiness.

Why did Jesus single out prayer, fasting, and almsgiving for his disciples? The Jews considered these three as the cardinal works of the religious life. These were seen as the key signs of a pious person, the three great pillars on which the good life was based. Jesus pointed to the heart of the matter. Why do you pray, fast, and give alms? To draw attention to yourself so that others may notice and think highly of you? Or to give glory to God? The Lord warns his disciples of self-seeking glory - the preoccupation with looking good and seeking praise from others. True piety is something more than feeling good or looking holy. True piety is loving devotion to God. It is an attitude of awe, reverence, worship and obedience. It is a gift and working of the Holy Spirit that enables us to devote our lives to God with a holy desire to please him in all things (Isaiah 11:1-2).

What is the sure reward which Jesus points out to his disciples? It is communion with God our Father. In him alone we find the fulness of life, happiness, and truth. May the prayer of Augustine of Hippo, recorded in his Confessions, be our prayer this Lent: When I am completely united to you, there will be no more sorrows or trials; entirely full of you, my life will be complete. The Lord wants to renew us each day and give us new hearts of love and compassion. Do you want to grow in your love for God and for your neighbor? Seek him expectantly in prayer, with fasting, and in generous giving to those in need.

The forty days of Lent is the annual retreat of the people of God in imitation of Jesus' forty days in the wilderness. Forty is a significant number in the scriptures. Moses went to the mountain to seek the face of God for forty days in prayer and fasting. The people of Israel were in the wilderness for forty years in preparation for their entry into the promised land. Elijah fasted for forty days as he journeyed in the wilderness to the mountain of God. We are called to journey with the Lord in a special season of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and penitence as we prepare to celebrate the feast of Easter, the Christian Passover. The Lord gives us spiritual food and supernatural strength to seek his face and to prepare ourselves for spiritual combat and testing. We, too, must follow in the way of the cross in order to share in the victory of Christ's death and resurrection. As we begin this holy season of testing and preparation, let's ask the Lord for a fresh outpouring of his Holy Spirit that we may grow in faith, hope, and love and embrace his will more fully in our lives.

Lord Jesus, give me a lively faith, a firm hope, a fervent charity, and a great love of you. Take from me all lukewarmness in the meditation of your word, and dullness in prayer. Give me fervor and delight in thinking of you and your grace, and fill me with compassion for others, especially those in need, that I may respond with generosity.

source: From the desk of Don Schwager, 

hosted by Kairos Europe and the Middle East

Ash Wednesday ~ 10 February 2016

In the sweat of your face

you shall eat bread

till you return to the ground,

for out of it you were taken;

you are dust,

and to dust you shall return.

Genesis 3:19

All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.

Ecclesiastes 3:20

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the forty days of Lent for Roman Catholics. Lent is a penitential season observed by many Christians. Ash Wednesday and Lent is observed by some Protestant denominations. Although Ash Wednesday is not a day of holy obligation, but it first day of one of the most important seasons in the Christian liturgical year. Therefore many Roman Catholics attend Mass to receive ashes upon the foreheads applied in the shape of the cross while the priest says “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” which remind us of our about our mortality, and because of this we must desire repentance and be lamented of their own sins. The ashes used on Ash Wednesday were made by burning the previous year palm branches. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Roman Catholics (ages 18 to 59 years, rest ages are on an ability basis who are exempted for various reasons) according to Paenitemini (1966 Apostolic Constitution of Pope Paul VI) and the 1983 Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church. some continue to from eating meat on all Fridays in Lent season. Christians cleanse and transform themselves by praying, fasting, repenting of their sins, and making changes and sacrifices in their lives.

Canon Law 1251 

Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Reading 1

Joel 2:12-18
Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion!
proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the people,
notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
gather the children
and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”

Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14, 17
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Reading 2 

2 Corinthians 5:20 - 6:2

Brothers and sisters:
We are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Working together, then,
we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:

In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.

Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.


Verse Before The Gospel

If today your hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.


Gospel 

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms,
do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“When you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“When you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”

Ash Wednesday as we begin Lent Prayer

The ashes we use are the burnt palms from last year's celebration of Passion Sunday.
We begin our Lenten journey aware of where we are going.
We want to enter into the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus for us more fully.
That is the purpose of our journey. It is why we mark our heads with his cross.
It is why we fast today and abstain from meat.

Our Lenten program is not an effort to save ourselves. 

We have been saved by his sacrifice. 

Our self-denial helps us, in the darkness that surrounds us, 

to prepare ourselves to receive his light. 

For this is a journey to the Easter font, 

where we will renew the promises of our Baptism, 

remembering that in dying with him in the waters of Baptism, 

we are re-born with him to everlasting life.

This year's journey begins today.

Yet even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;

Rend your hearts, not your garments, 

and return to the LORD, your God. 

For gracious and merciful is he, 

slow to anger, rich in kindness, 

and relenting in punishment. 

~ Joel 2:12-13 ~

Ash Wednesday

It is always falls six-and-a-half weeks before Easter Sunday. It marks the beginning time of repentance, fasting and abstinence in preparation for the most important celebration of Easter. Ashes are blessed by the Priest, and placed on the faithful forehead. The ashes is made from palm leaves of last years Palm Sunday which is collected from the faithful and burned. The palms which is converted to ashes acts as a reminder to the faithful of the defeat and crucifixion swiftly followed triumph when Christ is Risen from the dead.

Marking of forehead with ash marks our Christian commitment to Jesus Christ and God. It shows God that we are sorry for the wrong things we have done in the past year. Ashes symbolizes of our repentance and want to get rid of past sins forever. It is also reminds us that we all come from ashes, and to ashes we all will return. The moment when the forehead is marked initiates the beginning of lent for each individual faithful. Hence, we look forward to Christ's death and resurrection where all Christians will be freed from sin.

Genesis 18:27

Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,

Ecclesiastes 3:20

All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.

("You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church") ensures the times of ascesis and penance which prepare us for the liturgical feasts and help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart. 

CCC 2043

Three important actions we must observe during Lent season:

1. Prayer

We should spend more time in prayer during Lent to make us closer to the Lord. We also pray for our renewal in baptismal commitment which we would obtain through the sacrament of reconciliation during Lent.

2. Fasting (Abstinence)

Vatican II called us to renew the observance of the ancient paschal fast: "...let the paschal fast be kept sacred. Let it be celebrated everywhere on Good Friday and, where possible, prolonged throughout Holy Saturday, so that the joys of the Sunday of the Resurrection may be attained with uplifted and clear mind" (Liturgy, # 110). 

Fasting is more than a means of developing self-control but the hunger acts as reminder to us of our hunger for God. It also helps us realize the suffering of the many people around us and the world every day, and it should lead us to greater efforts to alleviate that suffering. Abstaining from meat is to remind us of the poor, who could seldom afford meat in their meals. A sparse and simple meal, that should be what we set for ourselves in the time of Lent. Avoiding meat while eating a hearty non-meat meal defeats the whole purpose and meaning of abstinence!

3. Almsgiving.

It is a sign of our care for those in need and an expression of our gratitude for all that God has given to us in action of charity and service to the needy. Be like the good Samaritan.

 

No specific instruction on how long ashes are to be worn. You can wash/wipe them off immediately after the mass if you choose to but many any people choose to wear their ashes for the remainder of the day. The ash marking acts both as a reminder of their own mortality and as a witness before those around that they are a follower of Christ and are entering into a season of fast, penance and abstinence.

Ash Wednesday
Wednesday, 13 February, 2013

First Reading
Joel 2:12-18

12	"Yet even now," says the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13	and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil.
14	Who knows whether he will not turn and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, a cereal offering and a drink offering for the LORD, your God?
15	Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly;
16	gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.
17	Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep and say, "Spare thy people, O LORD, and make not thy heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, `Where is their God?'"
18	Then the LORD became jealous for his land, and had pity on his people

Psalm
Psalm 51:3-6, 12-14, 17

3	For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4	Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment.
5	Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6	Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
12	Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13	Then I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners will return to thee.
14	Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of thy deliverance.
17	The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Second Reading
2 Corinthians 5:20 -- 6:2

20	So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21	For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

1	Working together with him, then, we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain.
2	For he says, "At the acceptable time I have listened to you, and helped you on the day of salvation." Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Gospel

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

1	"Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2	"Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
3	But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4	so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
5	"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
6	But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
16	"And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
17	But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
18	that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.