Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. It is a time of fasting and renewal for those who follow Christ. Ash Wednesday is marked by counting back forty days before Easter (excluding Sundays) to correspond with Christ’s forty days of fasting and preparation as he began his earthly ministry (Matthew 4:2).
The reason we observe Ash Wednesday is threefold: to meditate on our mortality, sinfulness, and need of a savior; to renew our commitment to daily repentance in the Lenten season and in all of life; and to remember with confidence and gratitude that Christ has conquered death and sin. Ash Wednesday, then, is filled with gospel truth. It is a witness to the power and beauty of our union with Christ and to the daily dying and rising with Christ that this entails.
Ash Wednesday Reflections of Scripture and Prayer