Ash Wednesday: Choosing a Lenten Penance

For American Catholics, Ash Wednesday remains one of the most popular liturgical celebrations of the church year. According to the CARA research center at Georgetown University, in 2024, 51% of U.S. Catholics attended Mass on Ash Wednesday, the same percentage that attended on Easter Sunday, exceeded only by Christmas that drew 68%. These percentages are about the same as 2019 before the Covid pandemic reduced in-person Church attendance, while virtual attendance increased.

On college campuses throughout the United States Ash Wednesday stands alone as the most popular feast of the church year, in part because collegians generally are at home for Christmas and Easter.  This popularity existed in the 1960s when I first started in campus ministry and it remains today. For instance, in 2024 one Newman Center reported that their Ash Wednesday service tripled the usual attendance on Sunday.  In our culture with its generational divide, Ash Wednesday is one practice that unites young and old Catholics in an important ritual with deep spiritual meaning.

In recent years, a growing number of Protestant churches have begun their own celebrations of Ash Wednesday. In some cases, they have gotten advice from Catholic priests about how to perform the ritual. Thus, Ash Wednesday is helping overcome the denominational divide by sharing a ritual action with similar meaning and importance.

Participating in Ash Wednesday which leaves a black cross on the forehead is one way for Catholics to identify themselves publicly and to express pride in their religious tradition. It is also a way of indicating an intention to take Lent seriously.

In Catholic sacramental theology, assigned words help specify the meaning of the ritual action. The traditional admonition “You are dust and unto dust you shall return“ reminds us of our mortality. In our culture it is easy to deny the reality of death. Ash Wednesday graphically reminds us that we are creatures on a journey that leads to death, a passage to a richer and better life. The influential German Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner claimed that we can become more authentic Christians by making the personal affirmation, “I will die” which is far more meaningful than the objective statement “people die.” Rahner insisted this is not a morbid thought, but a liberating conviction that gives deeper meaning to all the moments of our life. In this way, we are making ourselves to be what we will be forever in heaven.

In its liturgical reform the Second Vatican Council provided a second formula for distributing the ashes: “Repent and believe the gospel.” This phrase reminds us of the good news that we are encompassed by God’s saving love. We are engaged in self-discipline in order to become more receptive to the Lord’s healing touch. We give things up in order to open up a space that can be filled with the life-giving Spirit. Mortification is for the sake of growth. We are not engaged in a masochistic program of self-deprecation but a positive effort to move toward a healthier Christian maturity.

This larger context for viewing Lenten repentance suggests one possible strategy for choosing our Lenten penances. We can begin by discerning what kind of person we want to become, or what virtues we wish to cultivate in order to become our better selves. Then we can try to identify the precise obstacles to this particular development. Finally, we can choose a penance designed to overcome or liberate us from the obstacles and to develop virtues that enable us to live as more faithful Christians.

For example, persons feeling depressed by the political situation might try fasting from watching TV news, while identifying some positive, uplifting news items each week. Voters upset by cuts to Federal programs for the poor might contact their representatives urging them to resist these cuts and preserve their “power of the purse,” the constitutional right to tax, spend, and legislate. Workaholics might try building more leisure into their lives such as taking an enjoyable walk a couple of times a week. Parishioners having trouble concentrating at Mass might reflect on the Sunday scripture readings ahead of time, noting striking words, phrases and ideas they will hear at Mass. People feeling low energy levels might adopt a regular exercise routine and eat a healthier diet. Catholics worried about the plight of immigrants might befriend an immigrant family that is worried about deportation. Catholics who know little or nothing about social teaching of their church, might learn more about Catholic social teaching, and it’s seven themes: life and dignity of the human person; call to family, community and participation; rights and responsibilities; option for the poor and vulnerable; the dignity of work, and the rights of workers; solidarity; and care for God‘s creation. For both brief and longer explanations of these themes see usccb.org.  People who read the Bible regularly might use a commentary alerting them to passages with contemporary relevance; for example, Matthew’s gospel tells us about the flight into Egypt indicating that Jesus and his parents were refugees fleeing for their lives (2:13-23), a story Christians should keep in mind when considering our national policy on refugees seeking asylum in our country.

Ash Wednesday invites us to choose a penance or spiritual practice that will help us to be a more faithful Christian when we celebrate Easter at the end of the Lenten season.