Last Wednesday we came together to mark the commencement of the season of Lent, a period of forty days of reflection. During the Ash Wednesday Mass, ash was placed on our foreheads, and we recited with the words, "Repent and believe in the Gospel". Bishop Brian Mascord reminds us that the "ashes are a symbol of penance, mourning and mortality. So, what do ashes on our forehead tell us? They remind us that Lent is a time to draw closer to Jesus and to each other." Usually, the ashes are made by the burning of the palms used during our Palm Sunday celebrations. Bishop Brian said that "this year, those ashes were intermingled with ashes collected from the fire grounds of our diocese…. a powerful symbol of our need to journey ever more closely with Jesus and with each other, particularly in our most difficult hours. It is a time of conversion."

Traditionally, the church encourages us to focus on three actions: giving to the less fortunate, prayer and fasting. For most of us, providing donations for the good of others is relatively easy, and this was evident by the support for those who lost so much in the recent bushfires. Fasting and prayer can be more challenging when our lives are so busy. Pope Francis recalled that prayer is "more than a duty," but that it is "an expression of our need to respond to God's love which always precedes and sustains us." As we begin our Lenten journey, one of the key messages of Lent is that whatever actions we choose, we do it with a genuine connection to God and with humility.