March 1st, 2017

Happy Ash Wednesday!! ✝️

"Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19)   

Today is Ash Wednesday. Today marks the first day of Lent.

So I know some of you may be tilting your heads at that. Whether it be because you come from a different church or parish, you're not religious at all, or so on. Many of you today may find yourselves wondering things like: What is Lent? Ash What-day? Why aren't people eating meat on Fridays? Why fast? What's the point?? I have been asked a bunch of questions like these today alone. And I would love to help educate those around me about my beliefs! Those are a lot of questions to tackle all at once, so let me break it down piece by piece so you can better understand.

"So, about today... What exactly is Ash Wednesday?"

Ash Wednesday comes from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting. This practice includes the wearing of ashes on the head. These ashes symbolize the dust from which God made us. The dust that we shall one day become again. They also symbolize grief. And what a grief we all should have for our sins. Lent is a time to reflect and have penance. To remember that our sins have sent our Christ to death, and to encourage ourselves to continue to make choices to lead us from sin.

While the Bible does not mention Ash Wednesday specifically, it does record accounts of people in the Old Testament using dust and ashes as symbols of repentance and/or mourning:

"And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of divers colours that was on her, and laid her hand on her head, and went on crying" (2 Samuel 13:19)

"When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry" (Ester 4:1)

"And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes" (Job 2:8)

"And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes" (Daniel 9:3)

Should you observe Ash Wednesday? Well, that is entirely up to you. It is not a sin if you do not.

If you do, it is important that you have a biblical perspective. Jesus warned us against making a show of our fasting: "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly" (Matthew 6:16-18). We must not allow spiritual discipline to become spiritual pride.

"So what is this "Lent" thing? And what's it all about?"

"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred" (Matthew 4:1-2)

Just as we set aside time to spiritually prepare for Christmas Day, we should set aside time to prepare for two other important days of the Christian year. This being Good Friday and Easter. Like Advent, Lent is a time to open the doors of our hearts a little wider and understand our Lord little deeper...so when those two days come around, it is not just "another day at church" to receive the overflowing of graces He has to offer.

Unlike the joy associated with the season of Advent (with its eager anticipation of baby Jesus), Lent is an intensely penitential time as we examine our sinful natures and return to the God we have (through our own rebelliousness) hurt time and time again. Lent is an opportunity to contemplate what our Lord really did for us on the Cross. It points us to the hope of the Resurrection and the day when every tear will be dried (Revelation 21:3).

There is nothing in the world—no religion, philosophy, or material comfort—that offers such a powerful answer to life's toughest questions as the two slabs of wood on which our Savior died. It is this time of year, during Lent, that we are reminded of what Jesus did for us.

Keep in mind that the idea here is not to be overly scrupulous or to deceive yourself into thinking you can earn Heaven through your own goodness. The goal is to honestly examine your life in light of God's word and to make a commitment to change in any areas you have not submitted to the Lord.

Lent traditionally lasts forty days, modeled after Christ's forty day fast in the desert, and ends on Good Friday. Lent begins today, with a reminder of our mortality, on Ash Wednesday.

"So, what is abstinence?"

Abstinence refers to the practice of abstaining from red meat (whether on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent, or all the Fridays year-round).

"Okay, so what is fasting?"

Fasting refers to a specific practice of eating during the course of a day. It calls for one regular meal and two smaller meals—with the two smaller meals not adding up to one regular meal. One can abstain without fasting. Fasting can be found in both the Old Testament and the New:

"And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the table the words of the covenant, the ten commandments" (Exodus 34:28)

"When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water" (Deuteronomy 9:9)

"And he arose, and did not eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God" (1 Kings 19:8)

"When do you fast and when do you abstain?"

All churches are different. But generally, all those above the age of fourteen are asked to fast on every Friday of Lent. You are asked to both fast and abstain on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

"So when did all of this start? How long have people been fasting and abstaining?"

Well, depending on who you ask, you might get a plethora of answers.

This tradition dates back hundreds of years. Some say that this first started because the church was trying to support the fishing industry when times were tough. The church was trying to keep fishermen in the business making money, so the church encouraged people to skip eating meat for a day and instead turn to fish. There is some historical evidence of that, dating all the way back to the second century.

Some others will explain that, back in the day, it was safer to eat fish than meat. With fish, everyone always knew the specific time frame in which it was safe to eat. Meanwhile, people tended to test that time frame with beef. This, obviously, could result in many negative consequences. There is also some historical evidence about this explanation as well (it dates back to about the seventh century).

Some people may point out that, hundreds of years ago, only the very wealthy could afford meat. Fish was the "poor man’s meal". It was cheap, humble food that could catch yourself.

Many people in the Catholic church today will say that not eating meat helps you to focus on the humility of Christ, who lived a simple man’s life.

There are literally dozens of other examples for this discipline's evolution over the years and the Church’s maintenance of it.   

"Okay. But, why meat?"

Meat was singled out because it is associated with celebrations and feasts. Obviously there has been a cultural shift over the last few years and many people are vegetarian now, but think about it—most of us still base the food we eat during celebrations around a meat entrée. (Think Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, BBQs, etc.) A day devoted to Christ's passion doesn't seem to me like a day to feast. And yet, the day we celebrate His Resurrection is a day for feasting! Some of us even celebrate on a weekly basis when we sit down for family meals on Sundays.

So, in layman's terms: Meat is a luxury—plain and simple.

"Why can you still eat fish, then?"

Fish has never had the same status as the flesh of mammals and birds. It isn't typically associated with celebrations. In English, "meat" can refer to any flesh. But the Latin word "caro" specifically refers to mammals and birds only. Fish was never considered to even be on the same level.

Some people many not see the point. I mean, what if you don't even like meat? What if you love fish? This whole "no meat" thing suddenly isn't hard at all!

I love statements like that, because they strike at the heart of why we are really doing this. God doesn't need us to give up meat. God doesn't need us to have a fish-filet on Fridays. What does God want? For you to suffer?? Is the point of Lent to just grit your teeth and bear it? And, if you happen to like fish, you're not going to get any holier because the holiness comes from pain? Well, obviously, NO!

The heart of holiness is love.

"So why do you do it?"

For hundreds of years, Lent was seen as an opportunity to show homage to Jesus during the time he spent in the desert before his death. So for the 46 days before Easter, Christians would fast. Fasting meant different things to different communities. Some allowed themselves one meatless meal a day, while others eat but abstained from meat on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

Fasting during Lent is a man-made concept brought forth by the church. Because of this, it is not a sin if a member of the Church does not abide. As the years have passed and the food industry/farming has changed, many people choose vegetarian or vegan diets for non-religious reasons. Abstinence from meat is often no longer a severe concept.

Yet the Church still encourages us to do it. Why?

If we aren’t focusing on Jesus and on the cross when we abstain from meat, the matter becomes less about Lent and more about "Should I have the meatless pizza or the grilled cheese sandwich today?" And we all know that it’s so much more than that.

I prefer to look at it like this: Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, gave up His own body, His own flesh, that Friday so many years ago—for me and for you. He went through the pain of that self-sacrifice, completely mindful of God the Father. 

When I go through the incredibly minor act of abstaining from meat on Fridays, it is just one tiny act of self-sacrifice that points me back to that awful but Good Friday. That was the Friday when God loved me so much that He gave up His flesh in the most selfless act in history.

Thinking about how often my physical body can lead me into sin and away from God, it is great to have a chance to let my body help lead me out of sin and toward God. That’s the essence of what St. Peter was saying: "Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin" (1 Peter 4:1).

Abstinence from meat is more than just "going without" during Lent or just a reminder that Christ offered His flesh for us on the cross. Abstinence is a form of prayer. When we abstain from meat, we focus on Christ and on our souls, rather than on self and on our bodies. It is faith in action, placing our attention on Jesus and offering Him "our flesh" as a sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2), a vessel through which He can and does work.   

Abstinence can help the body (and soul) grow holier… if we embrace it and allow it. Sure, meat is great. But Jesus seemed to do pretty well with just bread and fish...and so did everyone else who received the feast that day (Matthew 15:34-37).

If he can do it, so can I.

Do I have to? Am I a sinner if I don't? Of course not. This is my own choice.

"Why are you specifically doing it? What are your reasons?"

I choose to do it for many reasons. To properly pay tribute and respect to Him and all he did for us. To grieve and remember that He died for our sins—our sins. It is because of us that he died. To get myself in a mindset to better understand what it was like for Him...so that, just maybe, I can understand even a fraction of what he went through. It's a way of participating, in a small way, in the sufferings of Christ.

To open my mind and heart more. To focus more on Him and keep Him in my thoughts always. To limit myself and institute self control. If I can't keep myself from doing some so small for just forty days, how can I be so sure I will be able to keep myself from sin on a daily basis? It is a way of disciplining yourself, strengthening your "spiritual muscles"...so to speak. So that when temptations arise in your life, you are already used to saying "no" to your desires.

This year I am giving up meat for the entire period of Lent—not just on Ash Wednesday and Fridays. I am also giving up pop and, more specifically, Gatorade. This is going to be something very challenging for me, for I drink Gatorade pretty regularly and then resort secondly to pop. Meat is in almost every meal I consume. These hardships will remind me constantly of the hardships Christ went through for me. It will remind me to be humble, to be thankful, and to not take anything for granted.

"I have more questions..??"

If you have any more questions about any of this, feel free to ask below or message me privately. I would love to better help you understand further! If you're wanting to participate in Lent this year too, also feel free to reach out. I would love to help you in your journey. If you're looking for readings or devotions to focus on during this specific period, I too have some I can recommend. :)