As Catholics begin Lent, bishop calls ashes a ‘sign of hope’

Ash Wednesday arrived with Cupid this year. The beginning of the Lenten season coincided with Valentine’s Day. But the latter holiday didn’t prevent Catholics from embarking on their journey of spiritual preparedness and inner reflection, in advance of the Paschal Triduum and Easter.

Bishop Michael W. Fisher celebrated Mass on the morning of Ash Wednesday at St. Mary Parish in Swormville, one of a multitude of Masses and prayer services offered throughout the Diocese of Buffalo on the first day of Lent. 

Across town, at St. Benedict Parish in Eggertsville, the church hosted extended hours beyond two scheduled Masses so that guests could come inside, pray and receive ashes.

“Everybody who comes gets a Lenten prayer book. We’ve been giving out a trifold of our Family 16’s Lenten offerings, including our Lenten speaker series, which is going to be wonderful, based on the Eucharist,” said Andrew Pitisi, pastoral associate of evangelization and catechesis at St. Benedict and St. Leo the Great.

During his homily at St. Mary’s, Bishop Fisher engaged directly with students from the adjacent school who were in attendance. After discussing fasting and abstinence, and their importance in this season before Easter, he told the congregation that the ashes they were about to have placed on their foreheads are a sign of hope.

“The ashes, in one way, symbolize who we are as human beings. And as human beings on this earth, this is a temporary place for us,” he said. “Eventually, though, where does God want us to be? Heaven, right? He wants us to be with us in His Kingdom. He’s saying to us that we’re more than just these ashes that are going to be on our heads, that He can take these ashes and turn them into something even more magnificent when we’re with Him in heaven. That’s the great hope that we are reflecting upon and working towards.”

On Ash Wednesday, faithful Catholics fast by limiting their eating to one full meal, and perhaps one or two light snacks, which are not to amount to a full meal. Catholics also abstain from meat. 

Fasting, as the bishop explained, is more than just limiting the foods and treats one might eat. It is looking internally at one’s own soul. This was further reflected in the day’s Gospel, he suggested. Within the selection, from the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus tells His followers that when they give alms, when they pray, and when they fast, do not do so like the hypocrites who act in ways to gain the public’s attention and hoped-for-praise. Jesus instructs the people to pray privately, and be more discreet with their acts of charity.

“In the gospel, it says that we’re not to make a big show of our prayer. We’re supposed to go to our inner room. That’s really a symbol for our souls,” Bishop Fisher said. “It doesn’t mean that we want to hide from prayer and not let people know we’re praying. It’s just that we’re called to take that inside, interiorly with us, spiritually. The fast is really, in this time of life, working on ourselves and our holiness.”

Meanwhile at St. Benedict’s, those assisting in the distribution of ashes included volunteers from Young Adult Professionals, a Catholic-based networking group for adults in their 20s and 30s, and the faith formation group Generations of Faith. Additionally, two priests were present to hear confessions.

Pitisi noted that this was not designed to be a quick “Ashes to Go” program.

“Ideally, people come to Mass and receive Eucharist, as we know in our Catholic faith that that’s extremely important, and the source and summit of what we are called to do. But what this does is offer people an alternative, offer people a time of prayer,” he said. “And it also shows vibrancy of a parish, the ability to have people to greet, to give ashes. And I think that that’s what this Road to Renewal is all about, to show that the Church is alive and vibrant and willing to meet people where they are, and to accompany them as Pope Francis tells us and calls us to do.”

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