By Effie Caldarola, OSV News
At Mass on Ash Wednesday, the holy Communion line was down to its last person. Suddenly, a young woman hurried down the aisle just as the priest was turning back to the altar.
Obviously, a latecomer. And then she briefly spoke to the priest. I couldn’t hear her words, but it was clear she was asking to receive ashes after Mass, having not arrived when they were distributed.
Ashes are very important to many Catholics. They’re a great witness, both for us and for those that see them on us.
Ashes are sacramentals, which the Catechism of the Catholic Church says are “sacred signs instituted by the Church” to prepare us to receive the fruit of the sacraments. They serve as reminders of our faith. I love sacramentals – candles, rosaries and what my husband laughingly says is my tendency to bring holy water home from every shrine we visit. Thank you, Our Lady of Knock.
But I’ve never understood why often more Catholics show up for ashes then attend the deeply moving and important liturgies of Holy Thursday and Good Friday. Sacramentals are not the sacraments. The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, and if we have the choice between receiving the Eucharist or receiving ashes – well, that’s no choice at all.
Sometimes I wonder if, now that Lent is moving along, we feel a bit disappointed in our Lent. Maybe on Ash Wednesday we’re determined to “do” Lent well, and as the days progress, we lose heart in our efforts.
Were our ashes the big impetus for action, and by Holy Week we think we didn’t live up to our expectations?
Hopefully that’s not the case, but if it is, we should never get discouraged. As a kid, I thought God was a stern taskmaster, and Lent was somehow a punishment for my sins. As I grew in faith and understanding, I saw the God that Jesus showed us – the God who is love (1 Jn 4:8), the God who is the prodigal’s father, always waiting with open arms, the God who doesn’t impose suffering, but suffers with us.
Lent is not punishment, it’s invitation: invitation to growth, to conversion, to Christ. The door remains open.
Discouraged with your Lent? Then begin again. And forget the trap I sometimes fall into – thinking of Lent as New Year’s resolutions on steroids, things I’ll “do,” sometimes with a nod towards my own goals – maybe losing a couple of pounds would be nice?
Sure, if giving up chocolate helps you remember Lent, then go for it. Pray, give alms, fast. But all those things should be with a focus on Christ.
I remember the words of Pope Benedict XVI, “Christian faith is … above all a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is an encounter with the Son of God that gives new energy to the whole of our existence.”
And when we are discouraged by our sinfulness? Julian of Norwich, the 14th century English mystic, said, “First the fall, and then the recovery from the fall, and both are the mercy of God.”
But how can a fall be the mercy of God? As Franciscan Father Richard Rohr explains it, it’s in falling down that we learn almost everything that matters spiritually. Our sin and failure offer us, if we let them, insight and potential for growth.
So you’ve fallen? That’s the acknowledgement of Lent. We’re all sinners. But the biggest gift of Lent is God’s overwhelming and enduring love for us. So welcome to the rest of Lent, which beckons with many graces.
Effie Caldarola is a wife, mom and grandmother who received her master’s degree in pastoral studies from Seattle University.