Ash Wednesday

I like to think of Ash Wednesday, as a new beginning for the soul. Fasting we know can be beneficial to our bodies. It’s a cleansing. In Medjugorje, our Blessed Mother said” Prayer and fasting can stop wars.” These are powerful words indeed. We usually associate fasting with food. To deny ourselves food can be a cleansing for our souls as well as for our bodies. Ashes are placed on our foreheads in the form of a cross, an outward sign, to remind us to look inside, and to turn away from sin, and to return to the gospel. There are many ways of fasting. The best way of course is to stop sinning,  if we have sins, that have kept us away from the Lord, let us confess them, and begin again, a new slate. We all have something we can work on, to come closer to God. These forty days before Easter could be a wonderful time for us to begin again spiritually. A renewal of our relationship with God. Ridding ourselves of addictions might be a way to start. Let us not forget that without prayer, it is impossible to make changes. We need the Holy Spirit. We need God’s grace. We need to come to him in the quiet of our hearts. Everything begins with small steps. Let us ask the Lord, to bring us to a closer relationship with him this Lenten season.  Psalm :51 -9   Cleanse me of sin with hyssop, that I may be purified, wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.