As I plan to write each day (except Sundays), I am going to allow for these entries to not be as long or as polished as I usually attempt. That said, I do hope that the Holy Spirit works through these to inspire others. At a minimum, I would like those who believe in nothing to believe in something greater than themselves; I would like those who believe in something greater than themselves to become Christian; I would like those who are Christian to become Catholic; and I would like those who are Catholic to become more active Catholics.
And so ... here I sit with ashes on my forehead. I keep wanting to itch my head, and sometimes I do so without thinking, smudging my fingers and coating the underside of my fingernails. So often, other people have to let me know that I have a smudge on my face or cheese in my goatee. Yet on Ash Wednesday, I cannot help but feel the ashes, and I suppose that's their purpose: to serve as an reminder, an irritant even, of those parts of ourselves within us that don't irritate us, but should.
I am also hungry. Today's gospel admonishes us not to announce when we fast, but to keep acts of holiness (charity as well as abstinence) secret from others so that we are doing it for holy reasons and not for reasons of vanity. Still, I'm hungry, but that might also serve a purpose: to remind us that we cannot live on bread alone, that the food of this world will always leave us hungry for more, and that only the Word of God can truly satisfy us.
I will wash off the ash before going to bed and will eat in the morning, but hopefully I'll keep these lessons in mind throughout these forty days ... and maybe even beyond.