Catholics all over the world observe today as Ash Wednesday by going to church and having ash placed on their foreheads to open the 40-day season of Lenten.
In his Lenten message, Pope Benedict XVI urged the Catholic faithful to rekindle their faith in Jesus Christ and love their neighbors in concrete ways.
“Lent invites us to nourish our faith by careful and extended listening to the word of God and by receiving the sacraments, and at the same time to grow in charity and in love for God and neighbor,” he said in a message from Rome.
For those attending Mass today, ash will be placed on their foreheads to remind them of their origin and destiny and the call for repentance.
The priest or a lay minister will make the sign of the cross while placing ashes on the foreheads of each church member and saying, “Repent and believe in the Gospel,” or, “Remember, man, that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.”
The ashes used today are made of burnt palms that were blessed during last year’s Palm Sunday.
The ashes are sprinkled with holy water or oil and smoked with incense.
All Catholics aged 18 to 60 are obliged to fast or to eat less today and on Good Friday which is March 29 this year, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said.
Under Church law, fasting meant eating only one meal and taking two small snacks not equivalent to a meal in a day.
Fasting has been relaxed in places where there is low food supply and for ailing people. Also today and in all Fridays of Lent, Catholics at least 14 years old are obliged to abstain from eating meat.
Archbishop Palma said one should offer sacrifices for the good of another person.
Pope Benedict XVI said this year’s celebration of Lent, which falls in the celebration of the Year of Faith, offers everyone an
opportunity to meditate on the relationship between faith and charity.
During the 40-day period of Lent (excluding Sundays), Catholics commemorate the passion, death, and resurrection of the Lord. It culminates on Holy Week, which starts this year on March 24, Palm Sunday. Easter Sunday is on March 31.
By Easter, the Catholic church expects to have a new pope after Pope Benedict announced last Tuesday that he will relinquish his apostolic post on Feb. 28.. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol