The dictionary defines “crisis” as “an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending, especially one with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome.”
The Modern Catholic Dictionary’s definition of Lent includes the following: “Originally the period of fasting in preparation for Easter did not, as a rule, exceed two or three days. But by the time of the Council of Nicaea (AD 325) forty days were already customary. And ever since, this length of time has been associated with Christ’s forty-day fast in the desert before beginning his public life.”
Every Ash Wednesday we hear the following words while a priest places ashes on our foreheads in the form of a cross: “Remember, man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.” It was in the book of Genesis that we were told that man was created from the dust of the Earth and will ultimately return to dust. (Genesis 3:19)
As you know, two of the Ten Commandments deal with covetousness: “Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s wife,” and “Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s goods.” Covetousness is defined as an inordinately strong desire for possessing someone or something. In his book Victory Over Vice, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen said: