Dear friends in Christ: Ash Wednesday this year falls on February 26th. In my time here in the Diocese of Springfield, many priests have shared with me experiences of people returning to the practice of their Faith through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I thank you for being ministers of reconciliation and healing, particularly for those who have felt hurt by the Church in any way. The Lenten Season is a great reminder to us of our calling to reconcile and start anew in our relationship with God and our brothers and sisters. I pray for that time of grace for all of us ministering in the diocese of Springfield and am grateful for the efforts of scheduling Penance Services that inspire our people to make use of this sacrament. During Lent, Catholics who are between the ages of 18 and 59 undertake at a minimum two days of fasting: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. To fast means to take just one full meal with two smaller meals and no eating between meals. Additionally, every Catholic 14 years and older is to make Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent meatless days — days on which no meat of any kind is eaten, days of abstinence. Ash Wednesday is a time for acts of penance and alms-giving, helping those who are less fortunate than ourselves. A visible sign of our Lenten practices comes on Ash Wednesday when the ashes mark a sign of the cross on our forehead to remind us that our frail human nature needs the saving power of Christ. The imposition of ashes, fasting and abstinence from meat are outward signs of the work we seek to do during Lent: to make our interior dispositions more of what Christ would have us be. Each of us is asked, as well, to undertake particular prayers, actions, alms giving, mortifications, and self-sacrifice to help us grow in our understanding of all God has done for us. A special undertaking can be the Rice Bowl program — a sacrifice by each of us for those who never have a full meal. May this Lent be for each of us a time of growth in our relationship with Christ and with others and may it be a time that we find ourselves more fully in concert with all that God calls us to be. With every best wish, Most Reverend Mitchell T. Rozanski Bishop of Springfield