Catholic Church

By Fr. George W. Rutler, Church Militant - Lent is an invigorating time for truth. The Truth Himself spent 40 days in the wilderness combatting the Prince of Lies. He did it as our "champion." A champion is more than someone who gets his face on a cereal box for having won contests. Go back to the 13th century and you will see that the word meant a combatant who fights on behalf of others... Since humility is honesty, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation is the declaration and manifestation of humility, sacramental confession, preferably frequently in Lent, is at the heart of Lent.

Fr. Mike Schmitz, Ascension Presents - Fr. Mike mentions three popular mentalities that prevent us from sainthood: Our hearts want instant gratification, while becoming like Christ is a process. Fr. Mike’s advice is learn to love the process.... We like keeping our options open, but instead we should be giving everything to Christ... We lack a fighting spirit. A saint needs a willingness to fight the good fight, especially when the spiritual battle is hardest.. Fr. Mike makes it abundantly clear that the only thing preventing us from sainthood is ourselves, because God’s grace is enough.

By Fr. Jeffrey Kirby, The Catholic Thing - As we started the penitential season of Lent on Ash Wednesday, we heard the solemn words: “Remember, you are dust and to dust you shall return.” To be frank, there’s not a whole lot of wiggle room in that admonition. It’s stark – and sobering... Life has come and life will go. We are dust and we’re going to return to dust. What does that mean for us? Are the ashes just some morbid way to make fun about death? Or is there something deeper – and even charitable – in the devotional practice of ashes during Lent?