“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
With those words on Ash Wednesday, Catholics across the Diocese of Allentown received ashes in the form of a cross, a visual symbol and spiritual reminder at the beginning of Lent.
At the Cathedral of St. Catharine of Siena, Allentown, Bishop Alfred Schlert celebrated one of the day’s Masses, speaking in his homily about the meaning and significance of Lent.
He noted that the Opening Prayer called Lent a “campaign” of Christian service, “a spiritual campaign to conquer the enemy of evil in our lives: the sinfulness that sometimes holds us in a very tight embrace.”
The Bishop mentioned a book he read recently on the concept of “death cleaning,” in which people declutter their home to spare their loved ones having to sort through too many things after their eventual death.
“The season of Lent is a bit about the art of death cleaning, too,” he said. Lent helps us overcome those things that we may be embarrassed or sorrowful to present to our Lord on judgement day,”he said. It also helps us get rid of those things that cause us spiritual death – “those sins in our lives that we still hold on to, that we still are not willing to give up.”
God turns to us in mercy, the Bishop said, and He asks us to turn to Him in repentance.
During the penitential season of Lent, Catholics are called to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, with almsgiving meaning doing good works for others. It is a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection at Easter.
During the penitential season of Lent, Catholics are called to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, with almsgiving meaning doing good works for others.
“We thank God for this opportunity,” the Bishop said. The Lenten “campaign of 40 days” allows us to overcome the enemy of evil in our lives and to root out and put aside those things that lead us to sin and cause us to alienate ourselves from the great and merciful love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Bishop Schlert also urged everyone to pray for Pope Francis as he continues to be hospitalized in Rome for respiratory issues.
During Lent, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fasting and of abstaining from meat. Catholics also do not eat meat on the other Fridays in Lent. See the full guidelines here. (https://www.ad-today.com/local/our-lenten-obligation)
By Paul Wirth.
Photo by Vargas Photography.
