NEWMAN CATHOLIC

CAMPUS MINISTRY

invites all Faculty, Staff and Students to join us as we begin the Holy Season of Lent with the celebration of 
ASH WEDNESDAY
This Wednesday, February 25, 2009.

Masses (with music) will be held
in the Student Center Ballrooms at 12:15 & 3:00 p.m.
and in the Newman Center at 5:00 & 8:30 p.m.

Confessions will be heard in the Student Center Ballroom

from 11:30 a.m. - Noon & 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Why do Catholics put ashes on the forehead?

There are over 40 passages in the Bible that associate

ashes with mourning and grief. In the Hebrew Scriptures,

people used ashes as a sign of repentance. They

would sit in ashes, roll around in them, sprinkle them on

their heads, even dip them in their food and drink as an

outward sign of their inward posture of repentance.

ASH WEDNESDAY calls us to stop and ask ourselves

“How are we doing in our walk with God?” In the 40

days that follow (the season of Lent) we are challenged

to fi nd spiritual areas where we can grow and sinful

areas we need to avoid. We are called to Repent, which

means to turn away from sin and turn toward God.

• Ashes are also a sign of physical death. We began as

dust, our bodies will return to dust until Jesus raises

us up in our fi nal resurrection on the “Last Day.” By

receiving ashes and keeping them on, we publicly proclaim

our intent to die to our worldly desires and live

even more in Christ’s image.

• Most simply - we acknowledge we are sinners and

don’t always love God as strongly as we could or as

directly as we should. Ash Wednesday reminds us that it

is only through God that we have life. He gave it to us.

So we spend these 40 days of Lent focusing on Jesus’

passion, death and resurrection - recognizing that without

him, we have no life, and no chance at eternal life in

heaven.

 NEWMAN CATHOLIC CAMPUS MINISTRY

 A Class II Organization of the SGA at Montclair State University

WWW.MSUNEWMAN.COM • (973)746-2323

Newman Catholic Center; 894 Valley Road, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043

Fr. Jim Chern, Chaplain & Director (chernjam [at] comcast [dot] net)