by Sean Quinn
Newark, N.J. – Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, distributed ashes to a few hundred Catholics during two Ash Wednesday Masses at St. Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral in Newark on Feb. 22.
For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic — when ashes were sprinkled over people’s heads in compliance with safety restrictions — Cardinal Tobin resumed the tradition of placing ashes in the form of a cross on individuals’ foreheads. He also spoke about the significance of the ashes, which symbolize the fact that everyone eventually returns to dust in death. Considering this reminder of one’s own mortality, the cardinal said Ash Wednesday is therefore a day to repent and “conform our minds and hearts more and more to the mind and heart of God.”
“We rend our hearts this day in reparation for all the days when our hearts have been closed to the sufferings of our sisters and brothers,” Cardinal Tobin said in his homily. “Because God has mercy on us, now is the day of salvation. We know that our Father sees what happens in secret, (so) our prayer and fast acknowledging Him will be fruitful. And we know by rending our hearts, we are returning to the Lord.”
With Ash Wednesday concluded, Catholics worldwide have officially entered the season of Lent, which commemorates Christ’s 40 days of temptation. The next six weeks will see parishioners praying, repenting, abstaining from meat on Fridays, fasting on Good Friday, and making a Lenten sacrifice, which means giving up something for the entirety of Lent to practice self-discipline and remember the sacrifices Jesus made. This period ends on Holy Thursday, which falls on April 6 this year.