Ash Wednesday and Lent

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"Yet even now," says the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments."

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of 40 days of Lent leading up to Easter. Lent is a time of repentence and coming back to God. During this time, we are called to recognize how far we have strayed from God and return to him.

As on Good Friday, Catholics ages between 16 to 60 (except those physically and/or medically unfit to do so) are required to fast on Ash Wednesday. This means having only one full meal that day ... several smaller meals may be substituted - to sustain ones physical strength, as long as they together do not exceed one full meal.

This is to honor Christ and to focus on His passion and death and our relationship with Him.

During Lent, many Catholics choose to give something up as a sign of their repentence and a way to remember the importance of this time. This is based on very old tradition but giving something up is not required by canon law. What canon law requires is that we abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays of Lent.

Find out more about Ash Wednesday here and Lent here.