We Remember, We Celebrate, We Believe!

Remembering entails recollection and identification. We recollect the happenings that occurred in the past and identify ourselves with them. We recall how on that day, at that particular place and with the familiar faces we had experienced a new dimension of life. Normally, we prefer to only remember the great happenings in life which brought us joy and fulfillment. Our selective memory almost immediately abrogates the bad happenings and experiences which brought us pain, sorrow and disappointment. And how is that impossible to do when obviously there is nothing to celebrate about?

c/o fr Felix Hernandez Mariano, OP

Ash Wednesday is the start of the season of Lent for Roman Catholics. Lent in the Christian tradition, is the preparation of the faithful — through prayer, penitence, alms giving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. It calls us to repentance and it could be done in many forms like placing ashes on the foreheads of the adherents. Ashes were used in ancient times to express grief or sorrow, and dusting oneself with it signifies repentance – an expression of grief for sins and faults. There are many verses in the Bible which attest to its practice. (Job 42: 3-6; Jr 6:26; Dn 9:3, 1Mc 3:47; 4:39, Jonah 3:6, Mt 11:21, Lk 10:13, Hb 9:13)

Our celebration is always accompanied by past events and by remembering them we then put meaning to the celebration: remembering is one of the important reasons why we hold celebrations like celebrating Independence Day, Birthday, Wedding Anniversary, and School Foundation Day. In the Catholic tradition, the celebration of the Holy Eucharist is the “source and summit of the Christian life…for in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch” (CCC 1324). We remember and by remembering, we come into the knowledge and realization of God’s love.

c/o fr Felix Hernandez Mariano, OP

And today is the celebration of God’s love. We celebrate by remembering who we are: how our humanity is tainted by sin and corruption, our need of God, and our dependence on God for our salvation. We are like the prodigal son in the Gospel of Luke, who came into his senses by remembering the love of his father, and how his wickedness led him to that difficult state. He decided to reform his life through repentance, admission and surrender. What followed next was a great jubilation, a celebration of victory and life. As we remember our defeat and victory, our death and resurrection, our humanity and the Divine love we receive, we should also celebrate. Our celebration brings hope for a new beginning, brings praise and gratitude, and brings joy and excitement. 

It is the same reason why the celebration of the Ash Wednesday, Via Crucis, fasting and abstinence, self purification and alms giving still make sense today. There is no celebration without remembering, and there is no remembering when there is no personal participation. The story of the two disciples of Jesus going to Emmaus is a classical example of recollection, identification and celebration; how they were able to recognize the risen Lord in the breaking of the bread. I believe that today’s celebration and that of the whole season of Lent is not so much a matter of obligation but of personal conviction – that we “remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shall return”. (Gen 3:19).