The Day before Ash Wednesday
The day before Ash Wednesday has a variety of names. It has been known as Fat Tuesday. But more commonly it is known as Mardi Gras. Most people would think of the party that takes place in New Orleans, but there is an important liturgical reality to the day preceding Ash Wednesday.
The reason for this is two-fold. The Season of Lent is a time of fasting and reflection. It is the liturgical season that precedes Easter. Through the centuries, the Church has used this time to remember how much we need Jesus. His life, death, and resurrection together serve as the climax of God’s redemptive work through him.
The day prior to Ash Wednesday was used as a way of enjoying those things that would be forsaken during the season of Lent. However, as with most things, this meaning was, in great measure has been lost, and we only remember the party. And not what the celebration was preparing us for.
The Season of Lent
As we enter into Lent, we are all called to make an evaluation of how we have been living out our faith. We are challenged over the course of six weeks to deny ourselves of some temporal good so we can increase our focus on some spiritual reality. It really isn’t about what we give up or what we add to our daily spiritual disciplines. The focus should be on intentionally drawing closer to God, even if we only participate in this level of focus for a season once a year.
As we live our lives, we can’t all adopt the lifestyles of monks and nuns. There are bills to pay, children to raise, work to do, and so many more responsibilities we have tend to. And all of these are important. They serve as the outlets through which we can show the world what God has been doing in us.
One Life to Live
When we see the activity of a spiritual life as being of a different kind than what we do in our “everyday” life, we are making a critical mistake. There should not be some distinction between our “faith life” and our “normal life”.
We only have one life.
And the better able we are to understand this, the more likely we will be to avoid artificial barriers in our lives.
This is what this series of reflections is about this year.
Let’s Focus on the Gospel
The Gospel is the most important message ever proclaimed. In it and by it, we are invited to return to what God desired for his creation—that we would live in fellowship with him. But, since the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden, we were and have been separated from God. Therefore, God enacted a plan to redeem what was lost.
The Gospel is the hub from which we can understand all that God is doing in the world and in us.
As we look at the Gospel, each reflection will highlight one characteristic of the Gospel message. This is not intended to be an exhaustive study of the Gospel. It’s meant to be descriptive. To help us better understand that what the Gospel does is far more and far more wonderful than we may have ever fully realized.
I pray you will find these reflections edifying. If you do, I invite you to do two things.
- Comment below each reflection letting me know how the thoughts challenged you or reminded you of something you already knew.
- Sign up for our newsletter. You will get each new post in your email so you don’t miss a single one.
