Christians mark beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday

Christians around the world marked the beginning of Lent, with Ash Wednesday.

Lent is a 40-day period leading up to Easter, in which believers are called to prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

“It’s sort of like a baseball manager at spring training, every year we have to be trained again, because our conversion, our turning away from sin, is never really final until we die,” said Bishop Michael Sheridan, of the Diocese of Colorado Springs. “So every year, we have these 40 days that are an encouragement and a time of grace to help us turn away from sin and back to God again.”

On Ash Wednesday, believers receive ashes in the sign of a cross on their foreheads.

“Really, it’s a double sign,” Bishop Sheridan said. “It’s a call to penance, to reconciliation, as well as a reminder of our mortality, that our life in this world isn’t meant to be forever. So We have to be living our life in preparation for our life in heaven.”

Many people use this time of Lent to give something up, from something they enjoy doing, to social media, to food and drinks. It’s a small sacrifice meant to help in big ways.

“We don’t lose anything by that,” Bishop Sheridan said. “We become stronger and more able to resist temptation and sin.”