Ash and Fast

“The main current of Lent must flow through the interior man, through hearts and consciences. The essential effort of repentance consists in this. In this effort, the human determination to be converted to God is invested with the predisposing grace of conversion and, at the same time, of forgiveness and of spiritual liberation.”

This reflection by Pope John Paul II in Lent of 1979 indicates the attitude with which we should approach our observance of this upcoming penitential season — a season that begins with a sign of repentance so ancient as to be almost lost in antiquity, and continues with penitential action equally ageless. Putting ashes on our heads as a form of penitence is a practice inherited from Jewish tradition. In Old Testament times, fast days expressed sorrow for sins and the desire to make atonement to the Father. Ashes, for Jews and Christians alike, are a sign of repentance, sorrow, and mourning.

The ashes imposed on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday are a reminder of our unworthiness and sinfulness —sinfulness that corrupts and stains us and leads to death (we return to the dust from whence we came). Ashes remind us of our original sin and our need of redemption —our need to be cleansed of sin and made worthy of Salvation. This is why the priest says, as he imposes ashes on our foreheads, “remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (see Gen 3:19). We cannot appreciate God’s infinite mercy if we do not realize we need mercy. We cannot understand salvation apart from our recognition of our need to be saved, rescued, from something —namely, our sin, which otherwise separates us forever from God. Ashes remind us of this need.

Since 1966, Catholics in the United States are obliged to abstain from the eating of meat on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays during the season of Lent. They are also obliged to fast (limiting food to one full meal a day, with two smaller meals allowed) on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday. Self-imposed observance of fasting on all weekdays of Lent is strongly recommended. Abstinence from flesh meat on all Fridays of the year [excluding solemnities like Christmas, which may fall on a Friday] is especially recommended as a way to fulfill the requirement of penitence of all Fridays. (ref. Canons 1249-1253, Code of Canon Law)

As Pope Leo I stressed in the fifth century, the purpose of fasting is to foster pure, holy, and spiritual activity. It is an act of solidarity that joins us to Christ —an act of self-donation in imitation of His total self-sacrifice. Fasting can heighten our understanding of Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church, and of our total dependence on His love and mercy.