Lent in 2026 commences on February 18. The Lenten season offers an opportunity for the faithful to respond to Jesus's inaugural message in the Gospel of St. Mark: “Repent and believe the Good News” (Mark 1:15).
Our Lent is shared by many other Christian Churches. So we don’t walk our time of Lent alone. We are strengthened by the unity of this common journey. Lent is a spiritual journey during which we take the time to reflect on our relationship with God and with our brothers and sisters, particularly those who are finding life hard. At the beginning of Lent, we assess our spiritual standing and aim to grow in faith. The ultimate goal of this pilgrimage is to celebrate with the risen Jesus on Easter Sunday, rejoicing in God’s love for us through both faith and action.
Lent as a pilgrimage can be seen too as a personal journey from darkness to light. Even in the darkest of darkness, a candle can be lit; “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness”. Lent is a time of hope and trust as we place our lives before our loving, merciful God.
A couple of Sundays ago, the Gospel from St Matthew spoke of our being “the salt of the earth” and the “light of the world” (Matthew 5,13-14). Our Lenten pilgrimage invites us to renew our ”salt “and be “light” through our faith actions of prayer, sacrifice, respect and help to those on the fringe of our society through Project Compassion and the St Vincent de Paul Society.
Ash Wednesday’s unique ceremony of marking our foreheads with blessed ashes acknowledges our sinfulness and speaks to repentance. Sitting in ashes is a common act of penance and humility throughout the Old Testament. We are invited to make a fresh start as the signing of the ashes invites us “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel” or to remember our reality “Remember man that you are dust and unto dust you will return”.
The Scripture readings for the Mass of Ash Wednesday reflect God’s gentleness with us. Each reading invites us to have trust in our God’s loving mercy - “come back to me with all your heart” for our God “is all tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness and ready to relent” (Joel 2). St Paul appeals in Christ’s name: “be reconciled to God” and he quotes Isaiah 49 as Paul tells the Church in Corinth, “..now is the favourable time; this is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 5).
Matthew (6,1-6,16-18) is the Gospel. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount gently advises his disciples and us about how our prayer, penance and helping the poor are to be from our heart rather than to pat ourselves on the back or seek admiration from others. Jesus wants us to do good things for the right reasons - love of God and love of others.
Our Lenten pilgrimage is a part of our life pilgrimage, and we often have to turn back to our God with repentance and sorrow in our hearts. This journey leads us in the midst of our so often need of repentance and God’s forgiveness to start again; truly a journey to Christ, the Light of the World.
Columban Fr Reg Howard currently lives in Melbourne.
Related links
- Read more from Wilderness to Dawn - Reflection on the Sunday Mass Readings for Lent 2026
- Read more from the current Columban eBulletin
