Don't smear it!

I received ashes at noon mass on campus, and my day up until that point had been filled with two primary concerns. First, I hoped that my ashes would be dark and defined, because in past years my ashes have been light and frankly a little wimpy. They would never last the whole day, or if they do, it ends up smudged and looking like dirt on my forehead. My other primary concern was not to smear the ashes. The urge to rest your forehead in your hands is always the strongest on Ash Wednesday.

Like my cosmetic concerns with the ashes I receive on my forehead, it is easy to get caught up in the other outward aspects that Lent brings, especially fasting. But lucky for me, the Church anticipated this and adjusted accordingly. The readings at mass addressed exactly that topic. I can't think of where in the book of Joel, and which letter of Paul were read, and where in the Gospel of Matthew(?) these wise words of God came from, but two things in particular stuck out to me. First, do not let one hand know what the other was doing, so basically don't brag about holiness, because that is just obnoxious (so that's not exactly what it said, but we all know it's true), and second, not to look gloomy while fasting, so as not to draw attention to ourselves and our supposed piety.

It can be easy to forget why we fast, and sometimes even easier to get caught up in the nitty gritty of the details of what fasting is (one meal, and two small snacks that don't add up to one meal, no meat today and Fridays!). We can also get gloomy, as was talked about in the gospel, because our stomachs are empty. But, if it is any consolation to your sad empty stomach, those hunger pains are a beautiful, albeit small, reminder of our spiritual hunger for God.

We can survive without facebook, candy and creamer in our coffee, but we cannot survive without God. I have to keep reminding myself that whatever Lenten resolution I make must be done with joy in knowing that God is still with me. Hopefully I can keep that on the forefront (or forehead) of my mind, so as not to forget what it's all about.