Ash Wednesday is February the 18th this year. As a school, we will gather to receive our ashes and then move about our day as a community with black crosses on our foreheads. Many of us spend this day comparing our crosses with our friends, often asking if it looks centered, if it is more of a blob, or occasionally calling out someone’s almost perfect cross. Sometimes we get so caught up in what our cross looks like, that we forget why we have it in the first place.  

A little-known fact of the ashes is that they are the burnt Palms from the past year’s Palm Sunday. The season of Lent focuses on reflection, so the symbolism of burning the past years palms shows that, as Catholics, we are reflecting on the past year of our spiritual lives. The reason the Assumption community and many other Catholic communities around the world receive an Ash cross is to remind us of our past (Remember that you are dust), and to make us aware of our future (and to dust you shall return. While the visual reminder lasts for the day, the verbal reminder is something we can remember for the entire 40 days of Lent.  

Lent is a complicated subject to understand and effectively implement. We commemorate the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert by traditionally giving something up. This stems from remembering that Jesus spent those 40 days with nothing but prayer and we should experience pain in some way during those 40 days. Like New Years resolutions, I often have trouble trying to come up with something meaningful. In past years I have given up certain fast-food restaurants and used to have the perspective that it was not meaningful. However, recently that changed. I realized that giving up Taco Bell was saving me money, better for my health and really making me realize how much of it I was eating. While that sacrifice might not have been as impactful to others, it really did make an impact on me. My point is that you should never tear down what you are giving up for Lent, and that many different things can be meaningful to many different people.  

I encourage all members of the Assumption community to think about something they would be willing to give up. If Lent isn’t something you regularly participate in, don’t worry. Simply starting to think about what we might give up is a baby step that can lead to great things.