Ash Wednesday is the day Catholics and some other Christian churches begin Lent – a season of penance in preparation for Easter.

Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting from food and drink for we Catholics and the like, which I definitely do not like!

Still, I dare say young Christian lovers found the “Valentine’s Day/Ash Wednesday” double a little tougher than I did.

It must have been a weird night for romantic Christians, sitting at a candlelight dinner with no food, giving their sweetheart a box of chocolates they’re not allowed to eat and whispering sweet nothings in each other’s ears as they dined on … well, sweet nothing. 

I suppose there was no harm in them ordering champagne and raising their glasses … they just couldn’t drink any.

Perhaps they could sip the illicit beverage, so long as they spat it all out in the soup bowl.

If you’re thinking that all sounds a bit wrong, remember - their soup bowl should be empty. 

Surely lovers could still go out for a night on the town ... But wearing your best clothes, lipstick and make up, and a big cross of ash on your forehead too? 

Non-Catholics and Catholics alike ask me “Do you wipe the ash off your forehead after you leave church or leave it on?” I don’t know.

I wiped it off one year not wanting to draw attention to myself forgetting I was walking around town dressed as a priest anyway. 

I reckon you should leave it on so you can bear witness to your beliefs and put up with people staring at you like you’re a weirdo at least one day a year.

Welcome to my world! When you dress as a priest people stare at you like you’re a weirdo every day of the year! I got so sick of people staring at me every day saying to each other “Hey, look at that weirdo dressed as a priest!” that I decided to start wearing normal clothes! I went back to dressing as a priest after only a few days. I got sick of people constantly staring at me and saying to each other “Hey, look at that weirdo dressed in normal clothes!” 

Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday are not opposites, just different ways of expressing love.

The benefits of prayer and fasting are not immediately obvious. Jesus said only prayer and fasting can cast out demons. I’ll have to remember that next time Collingwood are playing Melbourne.

Seriously, the benefits of fasting have been known in organised religion for thousands of years. Christians fasting for Lent, Muslims fasting for Ramadan and Buddhist monks abstaining from food from noon to dawn is not new. 

Professor Amanda Salis from the University of Sydney said earlier this month that eating and digesting food takes a toll on the body. I could have told you that. She stated that taking the odd break from eating and digesting can be a good thing. I couldn’t have told you that.

Fasting has mental health benefits and can help reset your relationship with food according to psychologist Meredith Fuller.

Wearing a cross on our forehead is an outward sign that we have begun a season of penance, but once the ash has worn off, it is a continuing season of personal reflection that cannot be seen by those around us, however it benefits the soul in many ways.