Great paradox defines the confession of the Church. Christ is sinless, yet becomes sin. We are guilty, yet declared innocent. We are dying, yet we live. Repentance is that intersection of faith – knowing that we deserve death, but we are gifted with life. Broken and restored hearts are grounded in the treasure of Christ’s forgiveness, which reveals the mercy of God. Ash Wednesday is an ancient holy day in the Christian Church calendar. It marks the beginning of the forty-day season of Lent – a time of penitence, discipline, fasting, prayer, and renewal, in preparation for the great Paschal feast of Christ’s resurrection. The season of Lent began in the earliest days of the Church when new believers experience the catechumenate in preparation for the sacrament of Holy Baptism at the Easter Vigil. These forty days refer to our Lord’s time of fasting and praying in the wilderness; and since Sundays are never fast days, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten fast.