That’s Going To Leave A Mark

NOTE: this article contains several links. Please feel free to explore them to learn more.

This Wednesday, February 18, begins the season of Lent. Up until just a few years ago, I always looked at Lent in the same way, just a 40-day period before Easter when we give something up and don’t eat meat on Friday’s. Wow, how much was I missing? A lot. As usual, because of who I was, I just didn’t really understand the importance and true meaning of Lent, or maybe that’s because I just wasn’t paying attention.

I was struck by an interesting thought as I was hearing the first reading at Mass earlier this week. It was the story of Cain and Abel. We all know what happens. Out of jealousy, anger, envy and probably a bunch of other feelings, Cain kills his own brother Abel because God looked favorably on Abel’s offering (GN 4:1-15,25). The story goes on to tell us that the Lord banishes Cain. Fearing for his life, the Lord puts a mark on Cain so that he would not be touched (GN 4:15).

The Lord puts a mark on Cain. The references you can find tell us that it was probably some sort of tattoo to mark Cain as protected by God. Think about that for a minute. Every year, on Ash Wednesday, we begin Lent be getting a mark on our foreheads. That mark (the ashes) is a sign to others. The meanings behind those ashes are many, however, one in particular stands out to me. In the same way that Cain was marked and protected, those ashes tell others who we are. In a way, they let everyone know that our faith lies in God and that as long as we follow and believe in him, we are protected by His love and grace. It is an outward sign of who we are as Catholics and that we want to show everyone we come into contact with, that we stand under the protection of God and all the Angels and Saints. That’s powerful stuff!

We are marked.

The problem with the ashes is that they come right off the minute we wash our faces. Then, the strong visual reminder of what it means, is no longer there to show, not just the people we come into contact with who we are, but ourselves as well when we look in the mirror. That is why it is important to not just start off Lent with that reminder, but to do other things throughout the entire season of Lent to remind us of what it all means. Even doing the minimal recommendations of the Church, which is abstaining from eating meat on Fridays during Lent, can be a good reminder of what Lent is about. Many parishes also offer things like weekly soup dinners, Stations of the Cross, and Parish Missions, where someone comes and speaks for several days in a row. One thing that EVERYONE can do is to simply add more to your prayer life. It’s important to remember that you do something that helps you during the next few weeks to ponder, reflect and sacrifice to bring you closer to understanding what this season is about. I would also encourage everyone to spend extra time reading scripture.

But there’s also so much more we can do. I found a couple of other sites that may help you too with things you can do during Lent. One is a Blog called, Held By His Pierced Hands, and here’s another web site, which you may already be familiar with called BustedHalo.  A good site for younger people is always the LifeTeen site. I’m sure there are many, many more but there’s plenty with these to give you things to consider during this Lenten season. Maybe you might even be inspired and you can come up with some of your own.

Another good suggestion is to subscribe to a daily meditation or reflection to give you some important things to think about leading up to Easter. One of my favorites is from Fr. Robert Barron. Many of you may already be familiar with him. He is the founder of Word on Fire. You can subscribe to his daily reflections on his web site.

Earlier, I mentioned going to Stations of the Cross during Lent, which is a wonderful way to reflect on the passion of our Lord Jesus and everything He went through for us, but if you cannot make to your local parish during Lent, I have actually created what I call an “interactive” Stations of the Cross that you can do anytime you want right on your computer. Try it out and see what you think.

I want to stress that I truly believe that along with doing additional things during Lent above all, the one thing you do that is probably more important than ANY of the things I mentioned here, is to repent. And the way you do that is to get yourself to confession. I’m sure at some point I will post something dedicated entirely to confession, but for now, just know that this is definitely something that is at the top of the list of things you can do during Lent.

So this Lent, don’t just think about the mark we are all given on Ash Wednesday, but think about the marks that Jesus received on his head, hands and feet for all of us, for our salvation. God Bless you this Lenten season.