On Wednesday morning, Cotter students woke up as they normally do,  they made their  beds brushed their teeth, perhaps  showered, then they were asked to  restore their faith in God.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent , a season of deprivation and renewal for Christians. Mass goers receive ashes, which had been burned from the palms of Palm Sunday earlier.

It is a season of  prayer, fasting, almsgiving, penance, and repentance.r in the church year, and foreheads are marked with the  age old saying, “Man is dust, and unto dust you shall return.”

Bishop John Quinn, the presider for Cotter school’s Ash Wednesday mass, compared Lent to a hobby of his cousin’s. Bishop Quinn stated that one of his cousins  loves to restore old cars. He would take a old and rusted car, the upholstery all ripped and torn up, and turn it into this beautiful piece of machinery, just as good, if not better, than when it first came off the production line. Though the process would take a lot of time to do, and cost, eventually it would be  amazing.

Bishop Quinn compared this process to that of Lent. Just like his cousin would take an old and damaged car and make it better again, we, as Christians, attempt to take our old and damaged souls, and over the 40 days of lent, making them better again. Over these next 40 days, we are challenged to take our faith, pick it up, and making it new again.

Just as restoring a car begins with buying the car, restoring  faith begins with receiving the ashes on Ash Wednesday.

So remember,  don’t think of Lent  as time to give things that you like up, but rather as a time to restore the faith that is that old, rusty car, and making it something wonderful again.