Happy Ash Wednesday! Today marks the beginning of Lent –
a time to reflect on our relationship with God and prepare our hearts for the celebration of Easter.
As I get older & continue to grow into a Christian “adult”, I’m no longer receiving my Catholic School education each week and sometimes forget why we celebrate certain seasons/holy days. I’ve realized it’s important for me to take more responsibility & accountability to ask questions when I don’t know the answers, do my research, open my Bible and ask my family and friends for answers.
So if you’re like me and need a friendly reminder of why we receive ashes and why we celebrate Lent (that’s ok. You’re not alone sister!)…here it is:
WHERE DO THE ASHES COME FROM?
The ashes come from the previous year’s Palm Sunday Mass. The palms are burned then blessed to distribute on Ash Wednesday.
WHY ASHES?
When the priest applies the ashes on our foreheads in the sign of the cross, he may say “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The ashes symbolize what we were before God and how much we need God. Because of His grace, we are saved and promised Heaven.
The priest may also say “Repent and Believe in the Gospel.” The ashes symbolize penance during this Lenten season to ask God for forgiveness, turn towards the Gospel, live out the Gospel and become more like Jesus.
We do all this on Ash Wednesday to kick off the Lenten season!
Lent is a 40 day period (excluding Sundays) where many of us fast or give up something we enjoy such as dessert, coffee, television, cell phone time, social media time etc. We sacrifice something in our lives to imitate how Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights (Matthew 4). During his time in the desert, Jesus overcame temptation and in the end, strengthened his spirituality. At the end of Lent, our goal is to strengthen our relationship with God, grow in our faith and renew our Baptismal promises on Easter Sunday.
Although fasting is important, the MOST important part about Lent is Jesus. A couple years ago I started to change the way I approach Lent. I started to do a Lenten project to really help me focus on strengthening my relationship with God. If ya’ll are looking for new ideas for Lent… keep reading! I hope this post brings you a little inspiration to help you on your journey with Jesus!
Write down 25 blessings a day (inspired by nieces 4 years ago!)
Every day, take the time to reflect and write down 25 blessings in a notebook or on sticky notes (that’s what I did so I could have a visual at the end!). Then on Easter Sunday, you can rejoice with 1,000 blessings!
Challenge your family and friends to write down 25 blessings a day.
Each day ask a family member, friend, co-worker or stranger to write down 25 blessings in your journal. This exercise is a great way to start conversation & talk about how God is working in each of our lives. Again, at the end of Lent, you can rejoice with 1,000 blessings!
40 notes for 40 people.
Each day, take 5-10 minutes to write a note to a family member, friend, co-worker, acquaintance or stranger. A simple thank you, words of encouragement, thinking of you, positive quotes or a prayer. Then deliver via mail or in person. I took this opportunity to thank God for the many people He put in my life who have impacted my life (big & small). I remember hearing from my dental hygienist how much this note touched her at exactly the right time. You never know how you may brighten someone’s day!
40 intentional acts.
Write down 40 intentional acts of kindness. I wrote down 40 acts and hung them up on clothes pins in my living room. Each day I picked an act to complete within a day or two. Some examples: call an old friend, help a family member with a project, write a thank you note, make a donation, read 5 Bible verses, pray for 15 minutes, volunteer on the weekend, avoid gossiping, forgive someone etc. These acts of kindness will bring love, joy and happiness to many.
40 Bible Verses
Each day, take time to read and reflect on 1 Bible verse. God’s word will guide you, strengthen you and ultimately inspire you to be the person God made you to be!
REFLECTION: One of the things I will be working on this Lenten season is prayer. Each Sunday, I’ll be writing down prayer requests (from you!) in a journal and taking them with me to Sunday mass. ANY or every weekend during Lent, feel free to comment below, direct message me, email me or comment on my social media platforms a request you’d like me to pray for. No request is too big or small. You can share as much as you’d like or simply let me know it’s a special prayer for you. As I continue to write on this blog and be more active on social media, my goal is for my work to reflect Jesus and be a service to my audience. This way, I am hoping to achieve both and be a prayer partner for anyone who needs it. God bless!
