Season of Lent: Ash Wednesday/Tiempo de Cuaresma: Miércoles de Ceniza

Today we begin the season of Lent, a time of preparation for the celebration of the Risen Lord on Easter Sunday. The word "Lent" is derived from an old English word which means "springtime." The Latin adverb lente means "slowly." Members of the Church prepare for the renewal of their baptismal vows at the Easter Vigil. Catechumens, on the other hand, prepare for Baptism and their full initiation into the church.
In the early Christian community only three "mortal" sins existed: adultery, murder, apostasy. If a member of the community should be found guilty of one of these sins, he or she enter a process of repentance lasting up to three years. During this time the person was not allowed to worship with the community, but was prayed over and helped to come back to full membership and right relationship with the community.
It is, then, appropiate that the Church calls us to repentance with the sign of ashes on our foreheads. From early biblical times, ashes have been symbolic of repentance for sin and of grief and mourning. They are a visible sign to remember that we are dust and to dust we shall return. Ashes call us to "repent and believe the good news." The Church invites Christians to fast during Lent. This type of fasting is not simply abstaining from eating. The fasting recommended has a much more radical scope. It is fasting from sin. It is giving up one's own ways to adopt those of Jesus.

La cuaresma es el tiempo de preparación y la puerta de entrada al gran misterio de la Pascua del Señor. Es un camino que evoca los cuarenta días de Moisés en la cumbre del monte Sinaí, los cuarenta años de Israel en el desierto y los cuarenta días de ayuno de Jesús antes de iniciar su ministerio público. Es un camino que nos lleva a la renovación de las promesas de nuestro bautismo y a un cambio de vida, marcado por la cruz de Cristo y orientado por completo hacia la Pascua de Resurrección.
La cuaresma comienza el Miércoles de Ceniza. La ceniza ha sido desde los tiempos del Antiguo Testamento un símbolo de penitencia. Al recibirla estamos aceptando nuestra condición débil y pecadora que necesita de la misericordia de Dios. Las fórmulas de la imposición de la ceniza se inspiran en Gn 3,19 y Mc 1,15.