Comments on: Questions on the practice of Lent ! http://adventus.org/en/stotvos/questions-on-the-practice-of-lent/ Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:52:05 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Andrew http://adventus.org/en/stotvos/questions-on-the-practice-of-lent/comment-page-1/#comment-12758 Andrew Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:37:49 +0000 http://adventus.org/en/?p=380#comment-12758 "You may keep the ashes on all day if you made it to the morning service, for it is a real sign of your faith and practice, but it is not necessary and could distract people at the work place. It is up to you.." I would say it depends on the reason you want to keep them on. If it is to receive attention, to show people you are fasting and that you are a *good Catholic*, then it goes against Jesus' words in Matthew 6, i.e. that devotional prayer and fasting should be kept secret... But one could argue that in today's world, it is important that our faith "shine before men" (Mt 5:14) so that people may think of God and turn to Him. If, then, keeping ashes on is meant as a way to witness one's faith in Jesus, then it could be meaningful. It all depends on the reason to keep them on : because of pride or because we want to be a witness of something greater than us. “You may keep the ashes on all day if you made it to the morning service, for it is a real sign of your faith and practice, but it is not necessary and could distract people at the work place. It is up to you..”

I would say it depends on the reason you want to keep them on. If it is to receive attention, to show people you are fasting and that you are a *good Catholic*, then it goes against Jesus’ words in Matthew 6, i.e. that devotional prayer and fasting should be kept secret…

But one could argue that in today’s world, it is important that our faith “shine before men” (Mt 5:14) so that people may think of God and turn to Him. If, then, keeping ashes on is meant as a way to witness one’s faith in Jesus, then it could be meaningful.

It all depends on the reason to keep them on : because of pride or because we want to be a witness of something greater than us.

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