New Hope Family:

Yesterday we marked the beginning of the Lent season with Ash Wednesday. But growing up in the Southern Baptist denomination my whole life, I didn’t hear much about this season.

 I do remember, though, as a young girl, maybe 6 years old, going into Publix with my mother one Wednesday on our way to church.

I noticed a woman had a black smudge on her forehead. I thought maybe she had a makeup mishap or maybe was cleaning and didn’t realize she had dirt on her head.

Then I started to see more people with that same smudge. I asked my mother what was going on and she explained this was a tradition that most Catholic people followed for a period of time before Easter.

I have since been more curious about this season, and it has come to mean something very special to me. Lent kicked off yesterday, Ash Wednesday, and is 40 days long, excluding Sundays.

Repentance and Faith Are Markers of a Christ Follower

The most notable traditions are fasting and having a focus on repentance. Most people choose something to fast from for the entire period leading up to Easter, like sweets, TV or social media, for example. Whatever is chosen, the desired outcome is to remind the observer that repentance and faith are the markers of a Christ follower.

Lent ends on Easter Sunday, which this year is April 9. This is a time of great celebration for what Jesus did for us — giving His life as a sacrifice to redeem those who have repented and called upon His name.

Mark 10:45 — For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

I hope you will practice fasting with me over this season as a reminder that we are to live our whole lives in repentance and eventually be ushered into Heaven to celebrate what Christ has done for us!

Blessings,

~Michelle Negron