Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations and the United Methodist Church is one of the denominations that observes Ash Wednesday traditions.
Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent and is observed by keeping a Lenten calendar, praying a Lenten daily devotional and by making a Lenten sacrifice by giving up something during the Lenten season or in recent years by adding to your spiritual life a new habit that leads to a deepening of your relationship with God.
Part of your Lenten prayers should involve praying for the strength to continue to keep your promise to give up something for lent or to add something to your spiritual life throughout the Lenten period.
Ash Wednesday is always 46 days before Easter. So how is Easter determined?
Easter is the Sunday following the first full moon that happens on or after the March Equinox which is always March 21st. Lent is 40 days long, not including Sundays. It begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday.
Traditionally, the period of lent is observed by fasting and some religions also include abstaining from eating meat. There are many references in the scriptures regarding fasting and it is usually for 40 days. Examples would be when Jesus was in the desert, Moses also fasted for 40 days, and how can we forget Job who sat in ashes and fasted during his trials and temptations.
The ashes represent our penitence because Lent is a period of time when we take a serious look at our lives and repent for any shortcomings. When you receive the Ashes today, you will hear either “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” or “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Prayer: Lord, we come to draw close to the Spirit and to be changed during the forty days of Lent. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and restore me to the joy of your salvation. |
