The curtain rises on the season of Lent with Ash Wednesday. It is on this day that we present ourselves to the priest to be signed with ashes. Why do we do this? Because principally we are admitting that we are sinners. To have ash imposed on our forehead with the words repent and believe in the gospel is a public admittance of our sins and not merely a ritual. The ash is a sign of our inner desire for conversion a desire to move from head to heart. From knowledge of our sins to acknowledgment of them.
Fr. Warner D'Souza is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Bombay. He has served in the parishes of St Michael's (Mahim), St Paul's (Dadar East), Our Lady of Mount Carmel, (Bandra), a ten year stint as priest-in-charge at St Jude Church (Malad East) and at present is the Parish Priest at St Stephen's Church (Cumballa Hill). He is also the Director of the Archdiocesan Heritage Museum and is the co-ordinator of the Committee for the Promotion and Preservation of the Artistic and Historic Patrimony of the Church.
