This is the week of Ash Wednesday (February 25), one of the most important days in the Christian year. It is the beginning of Lent, the forty days before Easter, the day on which we are imposed with ashes and reminded of our sins. What is a sin? I suppose you might say that it is a breaking of the Law of Moses, The Ten Commandments. Or I suppose you might say that it is doing something bad however that might be defined. But I prefer to say that it is our willingness to close God out of our lives. On Ash Wednesday we confess our sins and ask forgiveness. The imposition of ashes symbolizes our need to confess and the act of confessing our sins publicly. We reflect on our penitence during Lent and refrain from using any language of celebration, such as alleluia, during this time.
