The opening of the Lenten Season began with the traditional Ash Wednesday Mass, March 5, 2025, starting a journey toward the celebration of the Paschal Mystery of the Faith. The Lenten Season ends prior to the celebration of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, April 17.
During this journey, and informed by the Gospel of Ash Wednesday, one must take time to live the Lenten Season in a particular way, through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, the three traditional disciplines of Lent.
Bishop Frank J. Dewane, in celebrating Mass for students at Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School in Sarasota, reminded them of the traditional disciplines of Lent. Bishop Dewane emphasized how the Gospel message of Matthew is not a suggestion but a command.
“You heard clearly,” Bishop Dewane said. “Leave Mass today at the start of Lent with the message that it is not a request in the Gospel today, it’s a command that you and I are to go out to pray, to fast and we are to give alms. Set about during this Lenten Season to raise your mind and heart to God. Choose how you are going to do that, keeping in mind that Matthew identifies the path you should take.”
Bishop Dewane reminded the students that going to Mass each Sunday is one of the most important, and easiest ways to meet the first Lenten discipline. The Source and Summit of Our Faith, the Mass, is the ultimate form of prayer. As for fasting, the Bishop developed the concept of giving up on something and suggested foregoing gossip or speaking unkindly about others. Instead, he noted, choose to say only the good. “It is about how you are going to change your life through Lenten Season, in honor of God.”
As for almsgiving, Bishop Dewane said it is not about money but about doing kind things for others. A key is to do the good thing for the right reason, not just to impress others.
“Let this Lenten Season be a different one for you,” Bishop Dewane concluded. “On this Ash Wednesday, you leave signed with the ashes, that means you are to give witness – one to the other. Make sure you give this witness when you go out from the school during this Lenten Season.”
On Ash Wednesday, the imposition of ashes is a solemn ritual that signals the beginning of the holy season of Lent. The ceremony is distinctive; there is no liturgical action like it throughout the entire liturgical year. Ashes come from a previous Palm Sunday. The palms are burned, the ashes collected and then crushed into a fine, sooty powder and placed into bowls, where they are blessed by the priest during the Ash Wednesday Mass after the homily. Then, in a Communion-like procession, people are invited to come forward, and the ashes are applied to each person’s forehead in the shape of a cross as the minister says either, “Turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15), or “Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19), the older, more traditional invocation.
While the ashes marked on one’s forehead do not last very long, their purpose is to cleanse and purify one’s inner heart. Having a clean heart is a key part of living one’s faith life, and the precept of confessing grave sins at least once during the Lenten Season merits a reminder.
To facilitate this requirement, every Parish in the Diocese of Venice will be open with a confessor present 4 to 8 p.m., Friday, April 11, and 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, April 12. Check with your local Parish for additional confession times or the availability of a Penance Service. In addition, the Diocese will be participating in 24 Hours with the Lord, as called for by Pope Francis during Jubilee Year 2025, on March 28-29. Designated Parishes in each region of the Diocese will be open with confessors available. These opportunities are made available so that the faithful may find ample opportunity to receive God’s Mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation during the Lenten Season.
