Coming soon.

Today we begin Lent; it is Ash Wednesday...I will admit to that the Ash Wednesday ceremony, the blessing and distribution of ashes, is, of all the ceremonies in the year, the one I do with the least enthusiasm. It is rather a chilling ceremony, but it shows the stark realism of the church and reminds us very bluntly and very starkly that we are ashes and unto ashes we shall return. It is a chilling thought but a very salutary one. So although I recognize that it is not by any manner of means my favorite ceremony, I recognize just how important a reminder it is. So, during Lent there is always a process of turning more to God and therefore away from those things that separates us from God, or interrupt our service of him, indeed, our love of him.

 A turning to God. Therefore how important it is in planning our Lent that there should be resolutions of a very positive nature...It was St. Paul who said: "God loves a cheerful giver," and cheerfulness is a characteristic of a real Christian. So let our Lent be not only cheerful, but deeply joyous, because we have determined to turn to God, and we know that to turn to God is to receive an outpouring of his love, and when we receive an outpouring of his love, then we are at peace and can be useful instruments in his service.

+ Basil Cardinal Hume, 1977