Ash Wednesday: Beginning the Journey to the Cross

Entering the Sacred Time of Lent

Welcome to Ash Wednesday. I’m truly grateful that you’ve chosen to join this Lenten series from noon to 3 p.m. Those are the sacred hours when Jesus hung upon the Cross. During this Lenten season, we begin once again a journey toward Holy Week, toward the Cross, and toward the ultimate gift Jesus gave us.

I’m Father David Colhour, Passionist Provincial of Holy Cross Province. It is a joy to welcome you as we journey together this Lent.

Crossing the Threshold

Behind me are sacred doors. Like all church doors, they lead us from the routines of daily life across a threshold into sacred space. It doesn’t matter whether a church is large or small, or what neighborhood it stands in. What matters is that when you enter, you step into sacred space.

Lent is similar. We do not walk through physical doors, but we mark ourselves with ashes. Instead of entering sacred space, we enter sacred time.

Have you noticed that Ash Wednesday does not fall on the same date each year? It changes annually. In some ways, that unpredictability is disruptive. It interrupts ordinary time. And that is intentional. There is no safe or predictable Lent. If we approach every Lent in exactly the same way, expecting different results, we risk repeating ourselves without growth. Lent is meant to shake us awake.

A Journey Toward the Cross

Lent interrupts ordinary time because it prepares us for a profound journey. St. Paul of the Cross would say that if you are going to begin a journey, you must know your destination. That is why he placed the solemn commemoration of the Passion before Lent begins. The destination is clear: Lent leads us to the Cross. That is our path. That is our Lenten experience.

A Season for All

Lent is not a private project. It is not something we undertake on our own terms. It belongs to all of us. It does not matter whether you are rich or poor, or what circumstances shape your life. You do not even have to be Catholic to receive ashes.

Lent invites us to honesty. It calls us to trust God more deeply and to let go of the things that weigh us down. It is a season of transformation and conversion.

Lent does not begin by asking what we are going to give up. It begins when we decide to be honest.

In a world filled with division and chaos, we all need greater honesty. Ash Wednesday confronts our temptation to divide the world into “right” and “wrong,” “worthy” and “unworthy.” The Cross traced on our foreheads does not authorize judgment. It calls us to repentance, patience, and compassion.

What to Expect in This Lenten Series

As you reflect during these hours from noon to 3 p.m., each week we will introduce a new theme rooted in our Passionist tradition: prayer, fasting, almsgiving, discipleship, community, and suffering love. We will explore how these shaped the early Christian community and how they continue to speak to us today.

Throughout each week, we will develop the theme through personal reflections, stories, prayer, and your own quiet pondering. For those who wish, Saturdays will offer a Zoom gathering where we can share faith and walk together through this forty-day retreat.

Softening the Heart

If Lent is real, it must soften the hardened places within us. The ashes challenge us to decide whether this season will deepen our divisions or teach us again how to walk together as people who depend entirely on God’s grace.

I wish you a blessed journey. I look forward to walking with you as we move through the mystery of Christ, drawing a few steps closer to the Cross.

God bless you.