My Dear Friends, 

Throughout the world, the Catholic Church and other Christians begin the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday. It is a forty-day period of penance and meditation on the Passion of Jesus Christ and of our salvation. It is a high time in the year of the Church. Catholics are asked to abstain from eating meat and to fast as they enter into this special season of penance. They receive ashes which the priest places on their foreheads in the sign of the cross saying, "Remember, dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return." The ashes he uses are made by burning the palms which had been which had been blessed on Palm Sunday of the preceding year. These ashes are again blessed before their use on Ash Wednesday in a symbolic ritual to remind us of death. 

To fully understand the meaning of the ritual we must return to the creation of man. There is no doubt that when God created man He had great plans. "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.' God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them...God looked at everything he had made and he found it very good." (Gn 1: 26-27 and Gn 1:31) It was a very good beginning. 

"The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden to cultivate and care for it. The Lord God gave man this order: 'You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and bad. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.' " (Gn 2:15-17) And then the devil stepped in. "But the serpent said to the woman: 'You certainly will not die!' " (Gn 3:4) The devil is a liar from the beginning. Jesus Himself declared it when the Jews in their reflection of Him as having been sent by God, the Father are rebuked. "You belong to your father the devil and you willingly carry out your father's desires. He (the devil) was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies." (Jn 8:44) 

Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, an act of disobedience resulting in death in their hearts. They had heard the Word of God, but had not listened to it, and now their death had begun. 

"To the man God said: 'Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat, cursed be the ground because of you! In toil shall you eat its yield all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you, as you eat of the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face shall you get bread to eat, until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; for you are dirt, and to dirt you shall return.' " (Gn 3:17-19) This is really the meaning of the ashes that we receive during Lent. "Dirt you are and to dirt you shall return." We all know that; however, we want to forget it. We want to hide it. We'd like to overlook it The Lord says, "Don't hide it. Don't overlook it. Don't forget it. Think about it because that's what it's all about."

I once attended a conference in South Bend, Indiana and heard Ralph Martin, a well-known evangelist, speak about salvation. What he said made so much sense to me that I would like to paraphrase his thoughts for your consideration. He said among other things that we try to erase the fact of death; we try to hide it and make it look alive. The truth is that man has sinned and because of that we have death in our hearts. There's death in your heart; there's death in my heart. Unless we hear the Word of Jesus Christ and listen to Him we'll die in our sins. None of us can stand and say, "I did not sin." We know that, but what we forget is that if we do not accept Jesus Christ we live in our sins. We keep our sins and we will die with them. Very simply, the consequence of the fall of Adam and Eve is bondage to sin, a darkness in our minds. It's our weakness of will. "All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God." (Rom 3:23) This makes us slaves of Satan who is the prince of this world and who has an upper hand on the world. The decree, "You will die", has come to pass. We are all subject to death. The sign of the separation from God is death. As we find death in our hearts, in our minds, and in our lives, we have a preview of the death that will be eternal unless we discover Jesus Christ. We should realize and keep in mind that our race has been condemned to death. If it is not clear to you and me that we have been condemned to death, we would not look for freedom. Jesus is the only way to freedom from that condemnation of death. If we don't accept Jesus Christ then we are still condemned to death; we have to face the reality that our sins are not taken care of. It's not enough to say, "I know Jesus Christ came a couple of thousand years ago and did His thing." It's not enough! We have to understand the consequences of the fall of Adam and Eve and then we can look for the means of salvation. 

Now here's your story and mine. The guilty party must be pardoned. There's a need for repentance; to admit that sin exists; to beg for forgiveness. We have to be taken from bondage. We have to become a people restored to the dominion of Jesus Christ and released from the dominion of Satan. We have to be delivered from death and turn toward God, Our Life; delivered from the devil and turn toward the Lord. We must resolved to turn away from the condition of humanity which is inclined toward evil. It's that serious. We must understand that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour. The Bible tells us there is no salvation in anyone else. There is no place in this world, nor any person who has ever lived that can save you except Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can remove that curse under which we have come. So it's very simple, my brothers and sisters. We need to turn to God. We need to be reconciled to God and whatever is needed is provided only by Jesus Christ. Lent has to say that. Lent has to bring that dimension to you. We have to know, without doubt, without hesitation, that unless we walk with Jesus Christ, we're walking with death in our hearts; we're walking to death, endless death. We have to accept Jesus Christ. He is the one who pays for our sins; breaks the bondage; delivers from death; began the process of rectification and of restitution; delivers creation from under the curse; makes us new men and women. We can think of salvation only in Jesus Christ. Anyone who thinks that he/she can be saved without Jesus Christ is blind and continues to live in blindness. I hope that this word I received from Ralph Martin will inspire you to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, your Deliverer, and your Redeemer.

If we understand Jesus there is no doubt that the first word that He shared with us was a need to reform our lives, the need of conversion, the need for penance. This idea of penance comes from Jesus Himself. "After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: 'This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.' " (Mk 1:14) Believe in the Good News, reform your lives with the word of Jesus. It's good that each year we set some time aside so we can look at this particular recommendation of Jesus Christ; that we reform our way of living. 

Again we have the thinking of Jesus. "At that time some people who were present there told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, 'Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty that anyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!' " (Lk 13:1-5) So this idea of reforming our lives is a word that Jesus Christ wants us to hear and which needs to be repeated even if we prefer not to hear it and even if it's a word that's not popular. 

"...and he said to them, 'Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.' " (Lk 24:46-47) I think that we have to know that Word again today. Jesus Christ is asking us to be witnesses of this message and that repentance has to be preached. Penance, for the remission of sins, has to be preached to the world. 

Through the years the same message comes to us in many ways from Our Lady of Lourdes and Our Lady of Fatima. Today in many prophetic words the same idea keeps coming, the need to do penance in our lives. The tendency today in this country, as well as in the world, is not really leaning toward penance; rather it's just the other way around. Yet we have to hear the word of Jesus Christ very clearly: "Unless you do penance, you will all perish." This word is for us. It's for you; it's for me. We need to hear it and act upon it. We need to hear it in such a way that we're going to do something. I think that before we can make up our minds to do something serious about it we have to understand why we have to do penance.

When we sin we have death in our hearts and if we stay in sin we walk with death inside. We walk to death forever unless we turn to Jesus Christ. In God's plan Jesus Christ is the only one He sent to save the world. There is no salvation in anyone except Jesus Christ. So we have to accept Jesus and His saving power. The great question for many people, I imagine, is how to do it. We may entertain thoughts as expressed in the book of Daniel. "We have in our day no prince, prophet or leader, no holocaust, sacrifice, oblation, or incense, no place to offer first fruits, to find favor with you (God)." (Dn 3:38) Many people can feel that way and yet we know that there are a number of ways that we can offer penance; that with contrite hearts and humble spirits we can be received by God. We know that we can join in the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary as it is relived in the daily sacrifice of the Mass. There are other ways of doing penance that I would like to share with you, ways that are rich, important, deep and very simple; ways that could make of this lenten season a very special time during which we can turn to Jesus in a deep way and put penance in a meaningful way in our lives. 

Two suggestions come from Pope Paul VI. He suggests that if we want to do penance we should accept the duties of our state of life. You may be married, single, separated or divorced, with children, a small child, a grown-up, a teenager, a religious, a priest, whatever. What is meant by your "duty of state"? I'm sure you realize that there is no easy way in life and no one's got it real great. No one's going great guns; there are problems in every single walk of life. Suppose that today you could hear this word and everytime that there is any kind of difficulty coming because of the state of life in which you find yourself you could offer that as a penance. Can you imagine the number of things that you could offer in a spirit of penance in the course of a year? So from now on until the end of your life accept this idea of Pope Paul VI. Turn everything in your duty of state into a form of penance, uniting yourself with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, "completing in your flesh what is missing in the Passion of Jesus Christ," as St. Paul says, adapting after yourself this tremendous sacrifice, the dying of our beloved Jesus in atonement for our sins. I am sure that for some people their duty of state calls them to get up early or to go to bed late, to travel, to commute. Just think of the difficulty of commuting for so many people, lengthening their work hours. That's part of regular penance they can offer. I can think of so many people during a given hour traveling in congested traffic bumper to bumper. That's part of duty of state for some people. It can be part of regular penance they could offer to God. 

Another suggestion the Holy Father makes is that we should offer the infirmities of our lives. The human body is really something. It's beautiful! You know, I often think of the words of Psalm 139: "I thank you my God that I am beautifully and wonderfully made. You knit me in my mother's womb." Yet our bodies can become problems for us. Growing old presents problems. It becomes more difficult to climb stairs; it's harder to get up in the morning; hearing or seeing becomes impaired. All these infirmities can be offered to Jesus in a spirit of penance, praying, "Jesus, I offer this in penance for the sins of my life, or for the sins of the world." One can bring all kinds of infirmities to the Lord in the spirit of penance. Migraine headaches, arthritis pain, all kinds of illnesses can become part of our actions in following Jesus Christ as we offer such suffering as penance in our lives. We then become witnesses to God's Word that we have received, that we do penance, that we reform our lives. 

Life's hardships can be offered in the spirit of penance. We don't have to make too much effort to realize that the going is rough for many people. It seems that with all the money people are earning there's never enough to pay all the bills. For some, no matter how hard they work, it seems impossible to pay for all the escalating costs of the necessities of life. That's hard! Offer it up! Turn these infirmities to Jesus as a prayer of penance in reparation. Just simply ask Jesus to bless your labor and your attempts to meet the obligations of this world in which we live. This certainly would be blessed by the Lord. 

We often hear the question: "What can we give up for Lent?" If we're going to put penance in our lives, then there are probably things we have to cut out. Reflect on the wrong things that you do and the actions that you have to stop doing. The Old Testament laws prescribed for the priests of the tribe of Levi found in Leviticus apply as well for our time. "You shall not swear falsely by my name, thus, profaning the name of your God. I am the Lord. You shall not defraud or rob your neighbor. You shall not withhold overnight the wages of your day laborer. You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind but you shall fear your God. I am the Lord. You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment. Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty, but judge your fellow men justly. You shall not go about spreading slander among your kinsmen; nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbor's life is at stake. You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. Though you may have to reprove your fellow man, do not incur sin because of him. Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord." (Lv 19: 11-18) That should be simple--to love! That's what the Lord is asking for. I'm not asking for something impossible; I'm asking you to love and that should seem simple, don't you think? Love your neighbor as Jesus loves you. Therefore, 

If you steal, cut it out. 
If you lie, cut it out. 
If you speak falsely, cut it out. 
If you swear, cut it out. 
If you take the Lord's name in vain, cut it out. 
If you profane God's name, cut it out. 
If you defraud, cut it out. 
If you rob your neighbor, cut it out. 
If you block the way of the blind, cut it out. 
If you are dishonest, cut it out. 
If you have dual justice, cut it out. 
If you speak rashly, cut it out. 
If you reject your brother or sister, cut it out. 
If you hate, cut it out. 
If you criticize, cut it out. 
If you have a grudge, cut it out. 

I would like to present to you a suggestion that could make a difference in the way you celebrate Lent. We're just coming out of the Christmas season during which time the Christmas tree and other house decorations spoke to our hearts. Could we not have a lenten tree that could similarly speak to our hearts? I suggest that you put a new tree in your house from Ash Wednesday until Easter and let's call it The Tree of the Cross or The Passion Tree. It's very simple. All you need is a small, dry, leafless branch placed in a foil-covered container. Symbols of the Passion of Jesus Christ can be hung upon this tree. You could build the tree by daily hanging a particular object of the Passion. You could start, for example by drawing a cup, cutting it out and hanging it on the tree as a reminder of Jesus' words to His Father: "If this cup can pass away from me, but not my will--thy will be done." This first symbol, a cup, can then be a reminder of the cup that Jesus drank. It could lead you to meditation, the cup that you are invited to drink yourself; the cup of suffering, the cup of misunderstanding, the cup that you know; the things that you have to cope with in life so that you can unite your life with the life of Jesus Christ. 

Since Jesus came to patch up the disobedience of God's command not to eat of the tree of knowledge by dying on a tree, consider having a little tree, the Tree of the Cross. It may be cut from postcards or magazines.

Seeing the letters INRI which means "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews," could help you to acknowledge Jesus as your King. Hang a cock on your tree to recall the words of Jesus to Peter: "Before the cock crows twice, you'll deny me three times." Hang it at the top of your little tree. When you see it you might ask yourself if you have denied Jesus; how many times you have denied Him, possibly before a maidservant, before people who ask you about your affiliation, where you stood as a Christian. You could hang a sponge to recall how they gave Jesus vinegar to drink. A crown of thorns would indicate the extent of the love of Jesus Christ for you and for me. Looking at the crown of thorns could remind you of the sins of pride or of thought that you may have committed. Other symbols of the Passion such as the pillar and a whip used at the scourging and three nails, a hammer and a spear used at the crucifixion are also appropriate symbols to hang on your lenten tree. Hang a white robe, the robe woven by the mother of Jesus. See how simple it is to make a lenten tree, just a small tree on your bureau, mantelpiece, or in a window.

Complying with this suggestion will bring before your mind throughout the season of Lent the fact that Jesus Christ has come to save us, has suffered, has died and that's what make the difference in our spiritual world. I'm sure, too, that if you pray to the Lord, He can suggest other symbols that I did not mention, things that could be real to you, things that could make a difference in the way you pray, the way you think, the way you love during this lenten season. 

It is written that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and in His name penance for the remission of sins is to be preached to all the nations. You are witnesses of this. Can you imagine the difference it would make in your family if in your own heart, in your own life, you became a real witness of the Passion, the suffering of Jesus Christ. Talk to others about the Passion Tree. If you make one yourself you will notice that people will inquire about it, asking you: "What's that?" You will then have a chance to evangelize, to explain the Good News to the people who come in your presence. We have to do something to bring the message of Jesus Christ in our lives, in our families, in our acquaintances. Let's do all we can. 

Heavenly Father, we adore You and we love You. We ask You to bless us during this lenten season and give us the graces necessary so that we will hear the word of Jesus Christ; reform our lives and do penance. Help us to get closer to you. Bless this Word. Help all readers to understand that outside of You there is no hope; without You there is no salvation; unless we turn to You there is no deliverance; unless we ask You we cannot have that new life; we cannot live that new way; unless we count on You, we cannot atone for our sins in a way that's proper, adequate or sufficient. We ask that people will know that they need You; that they will accept You and love You. Give us a deep understanding of the blessing of the gift of this lenten season so that we can get closer to You. We ask all this in Jesus' name.