DO YOU REALLY HAVE FAITH?

 DO YOU REALLY HAVE FAITH?

  Today is Ash Wednesday. A special day for Christians, at least for Catholic Christians. I say this because I don't know the rites of the various Protestant churches... besides, the rite of ashes is a typically Catholic rite. "Like this?" I explain... Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, which precedes the delivery of Jesus into the hands of his executioners to save our souls. And the ash used in the ceremony, when the celebrant makes a cross like this on the forehead of the believer, is the ash from the burning of palms blessed on Palm Sunday of the previous year. And holy water is mixed with these ashes, which will be used in the ceremony. From here until Easter Sunday, the fervent and convinced Catholic fasts every Wednesday and Friday, and does not eat meat (red) on these days. Fish meat is released...

What does Lent really mean to most poor mortals? Well, we grew up within some faith, be it Christian or any other line. Here in the West, the Christian faith is more common, and the Roman Catholic Church is certainly the greatest reference of the Christian faith. I know many will disagree with me, but the Catholic Church is the foundation of Christianity in our modern world. And it is a secular institution. After all, we cannot forget that, regardless of anything, the Catholic Church has been firm and strong in command of the faith in our world for over two thousand years. I am not saying that she is right or wrong in her dogmas. That is not what is highlighted in this text. But its importance in building the faith of the social groups that form around it...

No matter what theorists say... faith is an essential force in people's lives. And the jargon that says "faith moves mountains" is more real than many people would like it to be. How many times has a person been disillusioned by human medicine and with a request made with all their heart, the person suddenly recovers completely, even without any consequences of the health problem they had? Okay, we don't have that many miracle healers in the world... but let's face it... how many people do you know who truly believe in a divine force? Saying you believe is not the same as believing. Being present at mass every Sunday does not mean that the person really has faith in what has always been presented to him...

When a person who does not believe in miracles visits a shrine and sees the number of objects left there as a thank you for the graces received, his first reaction is to vehemently doubt what is presented in front of his eyes. Even because she didn't go there because she really believed in the dogmas of her church... it was more to show the world that she is, yes, a person who believes in the teachings of Holy Mother Church...

But, as I said, very few people really have faith in what they are shown... for most of the people present at a celebration of a mass, what is seen and heard during the ceremony is not to be taken seriously. So much so that a good part of the people are talking to each other while the parish priest delivers his sermon from the pulpit... and most of the faithful leave the church without having the slightest idea of what the celebrant was talking about...

Lent has an important meaning for Catholics... as I said at the beginning, it begins today, on Ash Wednesday and ends on Palm Sunday... because that is when Holy Week begins, where we relive the mess of the Messiah. .. Lent symbolizes the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert, preparing for his Supreme Sacrifice, when he was put to the test by his Father and the enemy, and left strengthened to fulfill his destiny... and this is a time of prayers , especially on fasting days, Wednesdays and Fridays... but few faithful fulfill these rites, because as I said at the beginning, many call themselves Christians, but few really believe in what they say and follow tradition...

It's 7:50 am on this Ash Wednesday that promises heavy rain for later... rain is always blessed, even when tragedies occur, like the ones that happened in the last few days... let's pray that people don't suffer so much with the adversities caused by time, and let us always remember that nothing happens in the world if it is not the divine will...

May this be the most beautiful of all Wednesdays ever given to us by our Heavenly Father and may He help us and always illuminate our paths... stay with God and see you tomorrow, if He allows it...