A rite in many Christian churches, Ash Wednesday marks the
beginning of Lent — the 40-day period leading up to Easter.
Forty days is also symbolic because it is the same amount of
time Jesus spent fasting and praying in the desert. Since the
Old Testament, the wearing of ashes has symbolized penance.
Think of the term “sackcloth and ashes.” The ashes used in the
sacrament are made from palms distributed at the previous year’s
Palm Sunday. The Rev. Joseph McFadden, Bishop of the Diocese of
Harrisburg, challenged those gathered at St. Patrick’s Cathedral
in downtown Harrisburg to go beyond using Lent as a time to diet
or cut bad habits. “I challenge you to give up guilt,” McFadden
said. “The Lord wants us to give up the fact we feel enslaved by
our sin. The devil says to us we are evil. The Lord says, no,
you are good. The thing we know as evil was not how I created
you. I gave you my son to take your guilt upon his shoulders.”