The first day
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Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. The Catholic Church celebrates the first day of Lent in this way.
As its name suggests, Lent is a period of forty days (nowadays it is more than forty) leading up to Easter, which marks the resurrection of Christ.
During this period, the Church invites us to be more present in the moment. It gives us some clues on how to do this more effectively. The first clue is “fasting.” Not only in the literal sense of not eating food, but more in the sense of setting aside what is considered non-essential food. We all need to eat. But how often do we do so without even realizing we are doing it?
We have practically all the food we need available. Our pantries are full of food, and our refrigerators are full too. We hardly need to make any effort to satisfy this basic need.
Fasting comes from giving ourselves a little space and regaining our taste for food. Not as something that is only to satisfy an immediate desire, but rather to establish a balance that is necessary for our survival.
By removing some of this distraction and focusing more on what we are actually receiving to restore our survival, we become more connected with the outside world and with ourselves.
I would like to make a brief aside here:
Over the past three weeks, I can say that I have had serious problems following a balanced diet. This is most likely due to the fact that I am feeling low on energy, or that on the rare occasions when I do have some energy, it is not enough to do a normal gym workout.
By not using my energy to move my body, I end up being more inactive and spending more time at home... which invariably leads me to consume far more calories than I need.
Fasting not only from food but also from words must be observed. At this time, we must refrain from using our tongue to offend others. How often do we open our mouths not to say something constructive about others, but on the contrary, to criticize or speak ill of those who are not present. Lent should be a period when the words we say are words of care for others and of a desire to build a better future.
Yesterday, at the end of the day's Mass, as is customary on this occasion, blessed ashes were symbolically placed on my head, while the following words were spoken:
“Remember that you are dust.”
There can be no phrase stronger or more meaningful than this. We think we are important, and indeed we are important to God, but we must know and always be aware that our life is a brief passage. We are all here for a finite period of time, and we must honor that passage.
Man often forgets his true dimension. He takes on the size and shape of his dreams. They add to their existence something that only exists in their dreams... It is not easy to resist this temptation, this deep desire to have greater significance than we actually have. But if we can look beyond ourselves, if we can abstract ourselves, we can see our lives with a greater purpose and with much greater freedom. We do not see ourselves as the product of irrational actions, but rather of a life chosen and lived to the fullest.
I hope that this first day of the forty days leading up to the feast of the Resurrection will lift me out of this stagnation and inactivity that has brought me to this point.
Free image from Pixabay.com
Original text written by me in Portuguese and translated with DeepL.com (free version)
