Last Wednesday, February 21, is an Ash Wednesday (Aschermittwoch) which was the first day of Lent and occurs forty-six days before Easter. It comes the day after Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras (fat Tuesday or Fastendienstag), the last day of the Carneval season. The word "Carnival" is in fact derived from latin carne vale: "farewell, meat".
Beyound the word term business, what's so special about this day? The ashes, yes, is a reminder of our mortality. As a sentence mostly stated in the funeral ceremony "Remember, man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return."
And so begin a season of penitence which leads ultimately to the celebration of Easter joy. This is not a day of sadness, or a season that is morose, for it ends in Easter joy. It reminds us of that mortality and the fact, the simple fact, that we are sinners. We stand in need of the mercy of God; without the sacrifice of Christ on the cross there is no salvation, and we are counted as dead.
Thus, not only do a serious fasting, or abstinence (from meat), but more trying to have in reflexion, how close He is for me?
Heute beginnt meine Reise. Wie rüste ich mich für die kommenden 40 Tage? Mit wachen Augen, neuen Gedanken - und vor allem mit Zeit zum Nachdenken. Ich will mir jeden Tag zehn Minuten reservieren, in denen ich mich ganz bewusst frage: was brauche ich wirklich? Wie nahe bin ich Gott?
