February 22, 2023 Ash Wednesday

As we start Lent, let us think of others around us and pray for those who have lost a family member or friend this past year, or those who have had tough times. Let us also pray in Thanksgiving for the beautiful moments in your life. Take a deep breath and think over the last year. As you breathe in, breathe in the Holy Spirit and feel the presence of God in your life.

Prayer, Fasting and Giving

Lent is a time for reflection, a liturgical season of prayer fasting and alms-giving starting with Ash Wednesday.

The Liturgical color of Lent is violet and we observe Lent as we prepare for Easter. The ashes symbolize mourning, mortality and penance. The ashes are to signify that we ought to repent our sins during the Lenten fast. The ashes are ashes burned from the palm branches distributed on Palm Sunday of the previous year. These ashes are blessed and imposed on the foreheads of the faithful by making a sign of the cross. We strive at Lent to ask the Holy Spirit to move us to charity to our neighbors. Despite the complex and conflicted world we find ourselves in we are called to love our neighbors which is at the heart of every Christian living.