The rite of receiving ashes helps people reflect on “the transience of our human condition,” the pope wrote in his homily.
Pope’s homily: Those who seek worldly rewards never find or foster peace
Bishop Kettler: Emptying ourselves to make room for Christ
“Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the Church’s 40-day Lenten season when we focus on prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Why does Jesus caution his disciples to do these practices quietly and without fanfare?”
Lenten services, retreats and other opportunities
Don’t miss these local opportunities to enrich your Lenten experience.
Lent 3.0: Third Lent in pandemic offers chance for spiritual reset, healing
Lent offers new opportunities to find peace, community and faith.
Photos of the Week: Feb. 22, 2021
In the spotlight: Mars mission, Ash Wednesday and winter weather.
Catholics reminded Lent a time of self-reflection, atonement, preparation
Lent as a time of personal self-reflection and atonement is part of a greater realization of how the world has been crippled by sin, which only Jesus heals.
For Lent, ask if one’s life is centered on God or oneself, pope says
Lent is a time to reconsider the path one is taking in life and to finally answer God’s invitation to return to him with one’s whole heart, Pope Francis said.
Ashes mark beginning, not end, of new life, says theologian
Ash Wednesday and Lent are a time to recall that new life emerges from the ashes.