Ashes and Fasting

I made a quick run to church early this morning to fulfill my annual Catholic duty of having ash imposed on my forehead. Having been raised Catholic, I always oblige myself to follow what I have been raised to do. I tried to quietly sneak in towards the last part of the mass just in time for the imposition of ashes. It was the mass for primary level, thus there was not way I could get to the altar and back without anyone calling out "Ms. Stella...Ms. Stellaaaaa"
The amusing thing I noticed was the children doing the same thing I did when I was their age- comparing with each other how dark or how big their crosses are! My cross happened to be big and very dark and it lasted until I took the picture posted here. Everyone who came to my room would take notice of my cross and ask me when and where I got it.
Among the many who took notice of it, only one child asked why we have to do it. I tried to explain it to her in terms she would understand. I'm sure you're itching to know what I said. I told her what I remembered my religion teachers always said "Ash Wednesday is to remind us that God made us from dust and to dust we shall return, to remember that no matter how physically beautiful we are now, we will become ugly dust again when we die". The little girl accepted that and smiled. Perhaps some day she will remember that simple explanation and find her own meaning to Ash Wednesday and Lent.
Before I went to work i have set my mind on fasting today. Do what my father did, have one big meal and abstain and fast. Usually when I do this, i just keep it to myself, I keep it to myself as I have also learned from my father not to let the left hand know what the right hand is doing. Now this is a misquote because in today's Gospel reading,taken from Matthew 6:3-4 it says "If you give something to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your gift a secret."
At lunch, a non-Christian colleague asked me what i had for lunch and I said homemade "nasi goreng ikan asin" (fried rice with salted fish). "Ah", she said "because you're not allowed to eat meat today". I just smiled and said "well, it's a personal conviction". This is how most Catholics do it and that's what we do in my family. We abstain. We're not really asked to fast.
Then later in the afternoon, another one of my colleagues asked if I was going to fast. Not wanting to flaunt my personal practices, i just nodded and said "maybe,I'm still praying over it". Our discussion went on and ended with it's Vatican 2 now, there are substitutes for fasting like acts of mercy.
When I got home, being true to the promise I made to myself I prayed that I may successfully fast. When I opened today's Gospel reading I had my answer; "When you fast,do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you." Matthew 6:16-18.
Now you're curious whether indeed I would fast or do acts of mercy. And being a true follower of the Bible, I wrap myself in the words of Matthew.

Cuaresma

When I was a child I thought of Cuaresma or Lent happening only during the Easter week. The week my family would go on holidays. As I matured in Christian faith, my understanding of Cuaresma also changed.

Having worked in China for 2 years, I noticed that Ash Wednesday would almost always come right after the Chinese celebration of their Spring festival or as the world knows, the Chinese New Year. In old English, lencten means spring. In China, the celebration of the Chinese New Year also commences the beginning of spring. Perhaps in the Christian world, spring also begins on Ash Wednesday. In Latin Quadragesima means 40 thus the 40 days of Lent and the celebration of Easter (Easter, is also the name of the spring goddess).

Cuaresma is a time of penance, prayer, preparation for or recollection of baptism, and preparation for the celebration of Easter , the major Christian feast, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus after his crucifixion.

The observance of Cuaresma goes back to the 4th century. In Eastern churches it is known as the six weeks before Palm Sunday. In the West the penitential season begins liturgically with Septuagesima or the third Sunday before Lent or the ninth Sunday before Easter; the next Sundays are Sexagesima and Quinquagesima.

Cuaresma begins today, Ash Wednesday, the 40th weekday before Easter. On this day ashes are placed on the foreheads of the faithful to remind us of death, of the sorrow we should feel for our sins, and of the necessity of changing our lives. This practice, which dates from the early Middle Ages, is common among us Catholics. Other faithful practice this too, like the Anglicans and Episcopalians, and many Lutherans. It was also adopted by some Methodists and Presbyterians in the 1990s.

From the 5th to 9th century, strict fasting was required; only one meal was allowed per day, and meat and fish (and sometimes eggs and dairy) were forbidden. For the carnivore this would really be a big sacrifice. Fasting restrictions were gradually loosened during and since the 9th century. By the 20th century, meat was allowed, except on Fridays. In 1966, Pope Paul VI then began a trend toward penitential works like acts of charity in lieu of fasting during Cuaresma.

Having been schooled in Catholic institutions, there was always ash imposition in my schools. The bigger the cross on the forehead, the better I felt about it. I had this “looking good” feeling having it there. If it was small or not dark enough, I felt heathen. My family practiced meatless Fridays, abstaining from meat on Fridays during Cuaresma (and being a child was not an exception).

Even if we had meatless Fridays, as a child, I thought of Cuaresma as something that began on Palm Sunday. I looked forward to it not because I could eat meat but because I knew soon we would be taking a trip.

I remember my father would do the early centuries practice of one meal a day only, I’m glad he didn’t impose that on us. One of the things my father did during Cuaresma was fasting for 40 days not on food but on something he enjoyed doing – smoking and (some Lents) drinking his favorite San Miguel.

Cuaresma ends at midnight Holy Saturday. Then Papa would light his first cigarette and enjoy his first puff on Easter celebrating not with Easter eggs but bottles of San Miguel. My son always looks forward to the end of Cuaresma. Meatless Fridays are real sacrifices for him. He would count the many Fridays before Easter. This year, I have prepared myself for the beginning of 'Cuaresma' and looking forward to the 40th day because I know I will be celebrating Easter at home.