Ash Wednesday Collection at Maine Churches Aims to Bring Hope to Ukraine and Beyond
To mark the beginning of the Lenten season, Bishop Robert Deeley will celebrate Ash Wednesday Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland on February 22 at 12:15 p.m. Listings of Ash Wednesday Masses scheduled for Catholic churches in Maine are available online.
At all Masses on Ash Wednesday, a special collection will be taken up to jointly benefit the Church in Central and Eastern Europe and the Solidarity Fund for Africa. When the first bombs struck Ukraine nearly a year ago, aid was already coming in from Catholics in the United States through the U.S. bishops’ Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe. The collection has been held on Ash Wednesday across the country for three decades and has helped churches in 28 nations recover from communist oppression through the funding of pastoral, educational, and construction projects in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The Solidarity Fund for Africa supports projects that benefit women, family life, and children.
Lent is a period of spiritual renewal which helps us prepare for the celebration of the paschal mystery of Christ, his passion, death and resurrection. The ashes we receive on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday are both a reminder of our earthly mortality and a call to repentance. The ashes are made by burning the palms that were distributed the previous year on Palm Sunday. The ashes are blessed by the priest, who then dips his thumb in them and makes the Sign of the Cross on each person’s forehead, while saying these words: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19) or "Repent and believe in the Gospel." Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and a day of abstinence from meat. Fasting applies to Catholics between the ages of 18 and 60 and means you should only eat one full meal and two smaller meals if needed. All Catholics age 14 and above should abstain from eating meat on the day. Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation, but Catholics are encouraged to attend Mass to begin their Lenten journey.
One way in which Catholics make the world a better place during Lent is by participating in the Catholic Relief Services’ Rice Bowl program. Individuals and families in the Diocese of Portland combine to raise tens of thousands of dollars through the program each year.
The faith-in-action program encourages Catholics to fill cardboard bowls with monetary donations, giving alms to those in need and honoring Jesus’ call to serve our neighbors. Seventy-five percent of the money collected goes towards Catholic Relief Services’ worldwide ministry, while twenty-five percent is used within the diocese to fight hunger and poverty locally, for instance, helping food pantries, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters.
A special Lent section has been created on the Diocese of Portland’s website featuring resources to assist you during your Lenten journey, including hundreds of events, prayer opportunities, dinners, and faith-sharing groups.
