Pews were packed at an Ash Wednesday mass led by Miami’s Archbishop Thomas Wenski at Broward’s oldest Catholic Church earlier this afternoon.
The mass, held at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Fort Lauderdale, marks the beginning of the holy season of Lent for Catholics and Christians, a time for reflection and repentance ahead of the celebration of Easter.
“Lent is a season of grace and salvation,” said Wenski during his homily at the mass. “A good confession should be a part of every Catholic’s lenten observance.”
Wenksi explained that during the 40-day period of lent, Catholics will revisit the sacrament of ‘penance’, or the way believers receive forgiveness for their wrongdoings. One’s personal changes, made through prayer and fasting, must come first before fixing other worldly problems, Wenski said.
“Lent reminds us … that the world we live in cannot be helped in any other way than by our repentance,” Wenski said. “We can complain about the state of the world .. What can we change without first changing ourselves?”…