Today is the first day of Lent, the day when Christians the world over will have our foreheads marked with the sign of the cross in ashes.
It is appropriate that Lent begins with this ashen cross marked on our flesh, for from its earliest days, Lent has been a season of dying, of giving up, of clearing out, of emptying. It originated in the early years of the church as a 40-hour fast from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, mirroring the time Christ was in the grave.
In the third century, the 40 hours evolved into a six-day period known as Holy Week. By the fourth century, Lent had expanded to 36 days, or a tithe (1/10) of the year owed to God in repentance and fasting. During these 36 days, catechumens, those seeking to enter the church, prepared for their baptisms on Easter by fasting, in emulation of Jesus who had fasted before He began His ministry. Often the families or sponsors of the catechumens would join them in this fast, as a way of heeding the Scriptural injunction to bear one another’s burdens.
By the sixth century, Lent had been expanded to a 40-day period stretching from Ash Wednesday to Easter (not counting Sundays, which are always feast days). In addition to fasting, traditional Lenten observances include repentance and charity.
The lectionary passages for Ash Wednesday serve as an example of this interplay among fasting, repentance, and charity: Isaiah 58 expresses God’s deep concern for the poor and pointedly reminds the Israelites (and us) that fasting is not enough unless it leads us to care for the poor and seek justice for them. In Joel 2, the command is repeated: the people are to return to God by repenting and fasting.
Psalm 51 is a cry for forgiveness that wells up in the psalmist’s heart. Traditionally attributed to David as his plea for God’s mercy after he had slept with Bathsheba and ordered her husband killed, this psalm is one we frequently turn to in our times of corporate confession because it speaks so baldly of our failings and our need for forgiveness. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul commands us to be reconciled to God and reminds us that now is the time to begin this work. We are to postpone our repentance no longer for “now is the day of salvation!”
Finally, in the Gospel passage, Jesus assumes that we are caring for the poor, praying, and fasting on a regular basis. Are we? If not, may this Lent be a time when we can begin—again.
Read it yourself
The lectionary passages for Ash Wednesday are:
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12
Psalm 51:1-17
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Thank you for your thoughtful comments on Lent. I appreciate your historical perspective, Psalm and Gospel references. May your Lenten considerations and reflections be fruitful in your life, and in the life of your readers.