Ash Wednesday not only marks the beginning of the season of Lent, it is also a time when Catholic new media takes center stage, albeit not in the most obvious ways. This is because Ash Wednesday masses are some of the most attended all year, and most of those mass goers rely upon church websites to inform them of the scheduled times to receive their ashes.
This is also the most noticeable day of faith in the secular culture. It is common to suddenly realize you are surrounded by more Catholics that you realized once you see the ashy marks on people’s foreheads.
This is a beautiful day drenched in profound realities and a very public call to repentance. I recommend you read 9 Things You Need to know About Ash Wednesday. Even though it is a well known day, there are some confused ideas floating around concerning this day and season of Lent.
5 Misconceptions About Ash Wednesday
1. Ash Wednesday is a Holy Day of Obligation
Ash Wednesday is not a Holy day of Obligation. It is an important day however because it is a spiritual sign of our repentance and call for conversion. This is our entrance into the spiritual desert, and we take this time to focus on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
2. The Ashes are more important than Holy Communion
While this one is not verbally said often, it’s proclaimed by the actions of many Catholics that choose to prioritize the reception of ashes while ignoring the need for the Eucharist.
The church states that we are obliged to receive the Eucharist (True body and blood of our Lord) at least once a year (Canon 920), but there is no requirement to receive the ashes (a spiritual symbol).
3. Chicken is allowed on days of abstinence because it is a white meat
Chicken is considered a meat because it is still muscle fibers and blood like red meat. Our Lord sacrificed His flesh, so we abstain from eating flesh on Ash Wednesday and Fridays as a sign of self-denial. Eggs and milk products are allowed.
4. We are able to eat fish on Ash Wednesday and Fridays during Lent because it helps the fish market
While this may seem like a very practical reason as to why fish is allowed, none of these decisions were made with profit in mind. They all serve to improve our spirituality.
Taylor Marshall has an explanation and more reasoning behind why fish is allowed.
5. You are forced to give up something for Lent
It is common practice and a great idea to offer sacrifices for lent as forms of self-denial and practice of self-control. They help to remind us of the sacrifice that Our Lord made for us.
The only sacrifices required by canon law are abstinence from meat on Fridays (or some other sacrifice on Fridays outside of Lent) and fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (Canon 1250-3).
With that said, even though it’s not required, I highly recommend you consider it. Another alternative is adding spiritual exercises, corporal works of mercy, and other practices to intentionally focus this penitential season. Read 40 Days of Awesome: Giving Up More Than Beer, Cookies & Candy and 5 Tips for an Intentional Lent.
I pray you have a blessed Lent.
UPDATE:
Here are two newer posts worth reading.
Sweet article. These things need to be said.
What about if it’s a mortal sin or not if you go back on what you gave up, and is it ok to go back on what you gave up on sunday?
Good questions. It is not a mortal sin to go back on what you gave up unless what you gave up is a mortal sin. It’s only a discipline, and God’s mercy is there to help you again.
There is debate on the Sunday practice, but it’s really up to you. That would be worth a blog itself.
If you believe that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, and you experience this reality each Sunday, then fasting on Sunday isn’t required. Why should we fast when the Bridegroom is present? (Just my opinion)
I see what you are saying, but this is somewhat of a weak argument because we have mass every day in Lent. Jesus is equally present in those masses and at those consecrations. Many people try to go more to daily mass during Lent.
Not everyone can do that. But here goes a more thorough reasoning from the Catechism:
#2043 – Times of fasting and penance prepare us for liturgical feasts.
#2174 – Sunday is the Lord’s Day, the First of all Feasts.
So, while we prepare for the Great Sunday, we shouldn’t forget to celebrate every Sunday until then. He rose on a Sunday, making all Sundays a day of celebration. (Also why we moved the Sabbath from Saturday until Sunday).
This is a common response, but it still seems contradictory to tradition.
I understand that it is a common practice of many Catholics, but I have not found it supported by a strong argument in line with tradition of the Church.
In fact, I keep finding more arguments as to why Sundays are in fact part of the days of sacrifice. The biggest being obvious in the liturgy itself. We go without the Alleluia, Gloria, and organ all as a sign that we are in the dessert.
Jimmy Akin wrote a great post with some solid arguments, and I recommend reading it. http://www.jimmyakin.org/2004/03/sundays_in_lent_2.html
I plan on writing about why I choose to do my sacrifice all of lent in my next post.
To counter what Jimmy Akin wrote, he asserts that the omission of “Alleluia” and “Gloria” from the Liturgy is proof that Sundays are penitential.
My counter is this: the idea of Lent is universal to the Church. Eastern rites also celebrate Lent, and their season extends from Ash Monday until Holy Thursday (not including Sundays), which gets them to 40 days. They Never cease to say “Alleluia” during this period. So then Sundays are not penitential.
His whole argument seems to rely on “Alleluia” not being said in one Rite. The law he quotes, doesn’t define the Lenten season; and so can’t be used to determine whether Sundays are inside or exist outside of Lent.
This is an interesting direction to take the discussion. I think you could argue personal decision on the discipline of Lenten Sacrifices on Sunday, but there is still no support that Sunday’s in Lent are outside of the penitential season.
Making changes to the way we celebrate the source and summit of our faith is a pretty big sign that things are different. Even in the continuation of the Liturgy, in the Liturgy of the Hours, we refrain from the Te Deum. The only breaks are for The Annuciation and the feast of St Joseph. Theses are the only breaks when the purple (Penitential) goes away and the priest bring out the white vestments.
You are right that Lent is a universal season, but according to the canon of the Latin Rite, Lent is penitential. We follow the Code of Canon Law for our Rite. The Eastern Catholics follow the Code of Cannon for the Eastern Churches. http://www.ewtn.com/faith/lent/fast.htm