The season of Lent began on Ash Wednesday, 2 March 2022, with many coming to Sint Kwinten to be sprinkled with ashes and to let the words “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” penetrate deep into their hearts. As the preface of Lent puts it so powerfully, “For by your gracious gift each year your faithful await the sacred paschal feasts with the joy of minds made pure, so that, more eagerly intent on prayer and on the works of charity, and participating in the mysteries by which they have been reborn, they may be led to the fullness of grace you bestow on your sons and daughters.”
Fr. Tuli put it this way in his homily: “The season of Lent is a period that opens to us the mystery of human salvation. The sprinkling of ashes today reminds us about the fact that we are dust and to dust we all shall return. This is a symbol of the finitude of man and our human brokenness and an opportunity to cling to the love and mercy of God.”
In the afternoon we had the opportunity to come to the church to pray for peace in Ukraine and worldwide. During the Eucharist, Fr. Mykola Paliuh, priest of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Leuven, thanked the community for the initiative of the prayer afternoon and sang a Ukrainian hymn after Communion. Our collection allowed us to transfer 330 euros to the account of Caritas International for emergency aid to Ukraine.
