• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
A man receives ashes during Ash Wednesday Mass inside the Church of the Assumption in Lagos, Nigeria, Feb. 26, 2020. (CNS photo/Nyancho NwaNri, Reuters)

Start strong and show God

February 26, 2020
By Father J. Collin Poston
Filed Under: Blog, Dust and Dewfall, Lent

I have a great love and appreciation for visual arts. Every now and then, I pick up and read a fun, creative little book called “101 Things I learned in Film School” by Neil Landau, the famous screenwriter and filmmaker. It is basically a book on how to make a good film. As I was reading it this past week, I found some of the advice to be great wisdom for the beginning of our season of Lent.‘Start Strong’

In filmmaking, Landau says the opening image should “suggest a movie’s central theme and prompt intrigue as to where it is headed.” He ads that the opening image not only points forward to the theme and story to unfold, “it can [also] reveal back-story.”

“An opening shot of a boarded-up, tumbleweed-strewn town may depict desolation…While a flower on a cactus at the edge of the frame suggests the possibility of renewal.”

The readings we hear today on Ash Wednesday reveal the “back-story” of our Christian faith. In the time of the prophet Joel, the people were suffering intensely because of a large plague of locusts that were destroying their crops. It was a time of sincere desolation. The prophet interpreted the plague as not only as a punishment for sin, but also as a warning that God would come one day in judgment. So, what does he do? He calls the entire people, young and old, to repentance: to pray, to fast, to give and to “rend your hearts not your garments.”

Our beginning this Lent, with this prayer, is our way to “Start Strong.” The fast we will offer this day and hopefully continue through Lent is our way of offering God our repentance for our sins, personally and communally. And if one finds that he or she has the courage to sacrifice and add fasting to one’s prayer, that person will find more grace and strength to fight against sin, particularly sins of the flesh, and will find more clarity and ease in their prayer and joy in their spiritual life. So…“start strong.”

‘Show, don’t tell.’

What “Show, don’t tell” means for a filmmaker is this: Since film is primarily a visual medium, “almost everything that needs to be communicated about a story and its characters is better shown than explained. Visual cues, when well-conceived, will demonstrate the unseen” (he uses the examples of inner psychology, hidden histories, and emotional conflicts.) So, I’ll repeat that quote: “Visual cues, will demonstrate the unseen.”

What we receive on our foreheads, an imposition of ashes in the sign of a cross, is something most visible. If I or the deacon “get you good” today with a large thumb of ashes, you might even get comments from your friends or your co-workers (we will do our best!)

But the sign we will receive today is not for purposes of vanity, but rather is a “demonstration of the unseen.” That God is real, that Jesus is alive, the Spirit is present. The sign of a cross shows the “back-story” of salvation history, but it also points forward.

It is a stark reminder of the reality of death — that one day we all will face death, and then come face to face in judgment before God. Lent is our time to acknowledge and reflect on this reality.

So, let us “start strong” and “show God” to the world and those around us, and give a demonstration of the unseen by being Christlike in our lives and in our love.

Lent isn’t easy. If we do Lent “right” it’s not meant to be. And some may see the season of Lent as the desolate town in tumbleweeds. Instead, may our Lent be one of hope — like the cactus, an image of the Cross, that our Easter may be the lily, the flower that blooms from it.

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Father J. Collin Poston

Father J. Collin Poston is pastor of St. Bartholomew parish in Manchester. He is also the creator of vignettes called "Inspire/Ask-the-Pastor."

He enjoys the mountains, writing, contemplation, photography,
steamed crabs, and - of course - the Baltimore Orioles. Reach him
on Twitter: @FrCollinPoston

View all posts from this author

| Recent Commentary |

Praying for healing for our pet

An invitation from God

‘Annunciation’: Salvation and the words of the air

Fully entering into the Triduum

Question Corner: Jesus became man so I could become God?

| Recent Local News |

Catholic Charities’ William J. McCarthy Jr. named Loyola’s Business Leader of the Year

Sister Joan Cooper, O.S.F., dies at 94

Pathfinders: Five Archdiocese of Baltimore women who made history

Sister Elizabeth Ellen Kane, O.S.F., dies at 81

RADIO INTERVIEW: Dining with the Saints

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • National Eucharistic Revival aims to form disciples on mission with new Easter series
  • Confession is ‘encounter of love’ that fights evil, pope tells priests
  • Laws, lawsuits and adult involvement needed to save kids from social media ‘harm,’ say experts
  • Praying for healing for our pet
  • Jérôme Lejeune’s legacy advances ‘abundant life’ for people with Down syndrome in world and church
  • Texas parishioners affected by Ukrainian war, a wildfire have relied on faith, community to survive turmoil
  • Pope, World Council of Churches’ leaders talk about war, divisions
  • Pre-Vatican II Mass was formed by ‘clericalization,’ says papal preacher
  • Memorial to modern Christian martyrs opens in Rome

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED