Father Kevin on Lent: ‘You’ve Only Got One Life to Live, so Live it Well’

Father Kevin Earleywine with St. Patrick Catholic Church sat down with the Chronicle on Ash Wednesday to share the biblical significance of ashes, the reasons for fasting and what he likes most about Lent.

“Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent, which is the season of spiritual renewal and the season of preparation for the great celebration of Easter,” he said. “The tools of spiritual renewal are praying, fasting and almsgiving, which is also called ‘works of charity.’”

Father Kevin said the ashes used on Ash Wednesday, saved from the burned palm leaves from the previous Easter, denote repentance, which he described as “turning back to the Lord.”

“Sprinkling ashes on the head signifies showing sorrow for our sins,” he said. “It also reminds us of the idea of death. Basically, you’ve only got one life to live, so live it well.”

He said there are two phrases that can be said when spreading the ashes on someone’s forehead: “remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” or “repent and believe in the gospel.”

He added that sometimes things must “die” or be given up to allow for new life to happen, saying “this is why we fast.”

“I’ll mention this in my sermon tonight, but I grew up on a farm and we burned a lot of ditches and that was considered good and healthy, right?” he said. “You burn away the old brush so that new life can spring up. Sometimes, there are things in our life that we need to purge out so that our spiritual life can be renewed. As we become aware of things that have cropped up into our lives or things that have become distractions, fasting is giving up those unnecessary or distracting things and 'purging the weeds' to helps us better focus on God and on loving our neighbor.”

The church held their Ash Wednesday mass Wednesday evening, Feb. 18 at St. Patrick at 6:30 p.m., with a special children’s sermon for their youngest congregants.

He also wanted to remind community members about their upcoming fish fries at St. Patrick, scheduled for March 6 and March 20.

“We abstain from eating meat (and replace it with fish) on Fridays during Lent and the first question is always ‘why?’” he said. “For one, it’s a part of the fasting and eating more simply and cutting things out. Meat is also considered a festive food — when you think of the holidays, you think of a Christmas ham or a Thanksgiving Turkey. But Friday is a day that we remember that Christ died in the flesh so we abstain from eating the flesh of animals in commemoration of that.”

Father Kevin said their services and fish fries are open to everyone in the community.

When asked about his favorite part of Lent, he said he likes that it is like a “worldwide, universal retreat.”

“Catholics all over the world are using this time for spiritual renewal,” he said. “So it's like we're all taking this time together to spiritually refocus."