Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday,
February 22, 2023
THE MEANING OF ASHES
The ashes with which we begin Lent remind us of fundamental truths about ourselves. The dust of the ashes reminds us that death is inevitable for each of us. The ashes speak of repentance, of our need to convert our lives, and of the need to repent and believe in the Gospel. The ashes speak of a fire that has grown cold, a fire that needs to be rekindled within us by the time we light the new fire at the Easter Vigil. We seek to rise from the ashes of our sinfulness to a fuller life with Christ. But before we can embrace the new life of the resurrection, we must embrace the cross. Before coming to the font of life-giving water, we must travel the desert. To embrace new life, we must be willing to embrace death. To become our true selves, we must leave the false selves behind which we have been hiding. Though it sounds negative, the dying to self to which we are called is the only way to fullness of life, and thus it is a profoundly positive step in our spiritual life, a step that begins with being signed with ashes.
ABSTINENCE AND FASTING
All Catholics who have reached their fourteenth (14th) year are bound to abstain entirely from meat on Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays of Lent. All Catholics between the ages of eighteen (18) and fifty-nine (59) inclusive are also bound to observe the law of fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. This means limiting oneself to a single full meal and avoiding food between meals. Two other light meals, which together do not equal a full meal, may be taken during the day. Those whose work or health would be impaired are excused from fast and abstinence. Individual conscience should decide proper cause for excuse. A more serious reason is required to excuse oneself from Ash Wednesday and Good Friday fast and abstinence.
Ashes will be distributed at the following times:
6:30am Mass in Church
8:00am Mass in Church
12:10pm Mass in Church
3:00pm Prayer Service in Church
4:30pm Prayer Service in Church
6:00pm Prayer Service in Church
7:30pm Spanish Mass/Misa in Church