Good morning. Wishing you all my brother and sister in Christ a very blessed Ash Wednesday today! During this Lent season, may you reflect on your God, Religion, and your life. Jesus blesses!
Lent is a one Christian Festival. In the past it was a long, strictreligious fast when people gave up all rich food. The day before Lent starts isknown as Shrove Thursday. Then,Ash Wednesday. :D
Lentis the time when Christians prepare for the greatest of the Christian festivalsknown as Easter, by thinking ofthings they have done wrong.
TheChristian church no longer imposes a strict fast. Lent is a time when someChristians try to overcome their own faults because they believe that it wasman's sin which led Jesus to be crucified.
SomeChristians try to follow the example of Jesus in the dessert by giving up luxuries and practicingself-discipline. And they try to put aside more time to prayer and religiousacts so that they can really let God into their lives. More, many churches holdspecial Lent services. In some towns the churches of different denominationsjoin together in groups to discuss and share their Christian faith.
Lentbegins with Ash Wednesday and lasts for six and a half weeks. Lent is amoveable feast which means the date changes from year to year. I’ll explainmore at next entry. If rajin la :P
Lentends at Easter when Christians remember the execution of Jesus and thencelebrate his rising from death. The last week of Lent begins with Palm Sunday, which celebrates the dayJesus entered Jerusalem and the people lay down palms at his feet. The last dayof Lent is Holy Saturday the daybefore Easter Sunday.
Inthe our church, Roman Catholic Church, Lent officially ends at sundown on Holy Tuesday (Maundy Thursday), with the beginningof the mass of the Lord's Supper.
Apayang saya tahu, lent is a time when Christians remember the 40 daysand nights Jesus spent alone in the desert without food being tempted by theDevil. Jesus used this time to prepare forHis work by fasting and praying.
Luke'sGospel says:
'Jesus,full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit inthe desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothingduring those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.'
So,as in the Bible, we spend forty days in preparing themselves to rejoice at theresurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter. :)
The Christian season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday.
Thedate of Ash Wednesday varies each year according to the date of Easter. It isalways six-and-a-half weeks before Easter.. The earliest possible date of AshWednesday is 4 February and the latest possible date is 10 March.
Then,what is Ash Wednesday actually?
AshWednesday is a one of Christian festival. It marks the beginning of six and ahalf weeks of repentance, fasting and abstinence in preparation for the mostimportant Christian festival of Easter.
Ash Wednesdayderives its name from the placing of ash (mixed with either olive oil or HolyWater) onto the foreheads of the faithful. This practice adheres the sign ofmourning and repentance to God and it's interesting to note that the ashes aregathered from the burnt ashes of the palms used in the previous Palm Sunday.
It’scalled Ash Wednesday because ashes are something that are left when somethingis burned.
Ashesare a symbol of being sorry for things they have done wrong and want to get ridof forever. It is also a reminder to them that we all come from ashes and toashes we all will return.
Forus, the marking on the forehead with ash marks the commitment to Jesus Christand God. They wanted to show God that they were sorry for the wrong things theyhad done in the past year.
Usinga mark on the forehead as a sign of commitment is also used in many MiddleEastern cultures where a round, colored circle is marked on the forehead. We willattend a religious service where the ashes are blessed by the church leader,and placed on their forehead.
Webelieve this marks the physical and spiritual beginning of a personal Lentseason in which 40 days of repentance will begin leading up to the celebrationof Easter Sunday. The actual moment when the forehead is marked initiates thebeginning of lent for each individual person.
Lastly,the ashes symbolize is using ashes to mark the cross onthe believer's forehead symbolizes that through Christ's death andresurrection, all Christians can be free from sin.
Interestingfact you should know.
Thenumber 40 is a special number in the Bible. It signifies preparation forsomething special:
- The rain lasted for 40 days in the mighty flood - Noah
- Moses stayed on the Mount Sinai forty days (Ex 24:18)
- Jonah gave the people of Ninevah forty days to repent (Jon 3:4)
- Jesus, before starting his ministry, spent forty days in the desert in prayer and fasting (Matt 4:2
Mark 1:15 And saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdomof God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
That’s all. Sharing is caring bak kata Datin Ba’ah. If you what to know more about this Lentseasons of about the fasting, view this sites :
xoxo
Love and faith,
Ambai Kenyalang c(:
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