Ash Wednesday: Beginning a 40 Day Lent Journey

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Tahlib

And so it begins today, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, 40 days of fasting & prayer in preparation for Easter. It is rooted in the special biblical significance assigned to the number "40" as a marker for preparation. "Moses stayed there with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights, without eating any food or drinking any water" to get the 10 Commandments (Exodus 34:28). Elijah walked "40 days and 40 nights" to the mountain of the Lord, Mount Horeb (another name for Sinai) (I Kgs 19:8). Most importantly, Jesus fasted and prayed for "40 days and 40 nights" in the desert before He began His public ministry (Mt 4:2); and he also spent 40 days being seen by the disciples after the resurrection. (Acts 1:3).

Fasting rules are very simple: On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, believers fast (having only one full meal a day and smaller snacks to keep up one's strength) and abstain from meat; on the other Fridays of Lent, believers abstain from meat. People are still encouraged "to give up something" for Lent as a sacrifice. The rest of Lent can get complicated because of the technicality that Sundays be treated as "Little Easter" (little feast days), and days of solemnities like St. Joseph's Day (March 19) and the Annunciation (March 25), when one is exempt and can partake of whatever has been offered up for Lent. I've tried that and found it takes away more than it gives, to me, spiritually, so my Lent rule is that "when I give something up for the Lord, I tough it out, and don't act like a Pharisee looking for breaks on Sundays." Although the practices of Lent have evolved over the centuries, the focus remains the same: to repent of sin, to renew our faith and to prepare to celebrate joyfully the mysteries of our salvation.