Faith

“God called out to him from the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’ He answered, ‘Here I am.’ God said, ‘Come no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.’”

Q. With Lent on its way, I never know how to choose a “thing.” Do you have any suggestions for how to pick something to do for Lent?

In high school, my best friend’s dad was a Protestant minister. While both my friend and I are true mutts with a variety of ethnic heritages, we nonetheless had at that time a great fondness for our Irish ancestry, and one can easily imagine how that played out: the Irish Catholic and the Irish Protestant, jabbing one another with a constant playfulness as to who was the real Irishman, the real Christian.

Some things to know about Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday draws one of the largest turnouts of any Mass throughout the year. While its practice has popularity — including Catholics’ selfies with ashes on foreheads posted prominently on social media — the observance of Ash Wednesday calls for something deeper than receiving ashes. Father Tom Margevicius, director of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Worship, said “a return to ashes represents my worthlessness without God” — and the realization of being a creature instead of the creator.

Before Jesus’ ministry, the law prescribed an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth when seeking revenge. And so David would be justified in dispatching King Saul — yet he extends mercy.

According to the Second Vatican Council document “Lumen Gentium,” the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.” Throughout the Church’s history, it has used a variety of symbols to represent the Eucharist. The following is an overview of the most common.

Ash Wednesday is March 6 this year. Here are some things to know about Ash Wednesday and the kickoff to Lent: