The Lenten season begins with Ash Wednesday

On Wednesday, February 18, the Church celebrates Ash Wednesday, also known as Clean Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the Lenten season of preparation for Easter.

At the University Chapel of the Catholic University of Croatia, the Holy Mass was presided over by the Rector of the University, Prof. Željko Tanjić, PhD. Concelebrating were Prof. Ante Crnčević, PhD, Vice-Rector for Quality, Identity, and Mission; Associate Professor Richard Pavlić from the Faculty of Engineering; Odilon Singbo, PhD; and the University Chaplain, Rev. Branimir Jagodić.

With the priest’s words, “Repent and believe in the Gospel,” the faithful received the imposition of ashes, symbolically allowing the fire of God’s love to consume and turn sins into ash, and allowing God’s grace on Ash Wednesday to cleanse our souls and bodies.

In his homily, Rector Tanjić said that “the entire Lenten journey is, in fact, an Easter journey whose center lies in the renewal of baptismal promises on the night of Easter. It is clearly and powerfully marked as a path that leads from ashes, dust, and perishability toward the Resurrection and the formation of a new person. With every step taken along this path, with every stretch of road traversed, the words from the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians resound with full force, addressed to us today as well: be reconciled to God!”

The Rector also emphasized that Jesus addresses His disciples with a strong “you.” This “you” sets them apart from the crowd and makes them recognizable, but it also makes them different from others. “To become a ‘you’ in Jesus’ eyes, to be His disciple, to stand before Him in an unbreakable bond of love, is inseparably connected with a relationship with the Father,” the Rector said.

He concluded his homily with the words: “The Lenten journey toward the celebration of Easter is a journey of shaping a ‘you’ that knows where its roots are - knows from what and in whose light it interprets the world, and on what it builds its relationships with others, its spirituality, and its self-denial. Only from a personal relationship with the Father does true witness take shape. It is public, and then it does not seek to be seen, rewarded, or glorified. For glory belongs to God alone.”

Lent calls us to conversion. This means a profound and essential change, not a small or superficial one. Conversion is a turning point - a complete reorientation of the whole person toward God. During the Lenten season, our university chapel will host the devotion of the Stations of the Cross every Friday at 11:30 a.m., and other Lenten activities will begin on Monday, February 23, after the examination period.