Our Lenten symbol this year is a wooden cross, which is without a doubt the most prominent Lenten symbol we know. 
 
Our foreheads are marked with ashes in the sign of a cross as our Lenten journey of interior renewal begins. What is so meaningful is that it is the same sign of the cross that we make when we bless ourselves with holy water, which reminds us of our baptism, or the sign that launches us into prayer and our relationship with Jesus Christ, the One who renews us and saves us. 
 
The small wooden cross we’re offering this year is meant to be something to hold and to carry with us as we journey through Lent. 
 
The cross has both a vertical dimension and a horizontal dimension.  Spiritual masters have suggested we see the vertical dimension as our connection with God—it moves us upward.  The horizontal dimension reminds us of the ways we embrace others and reach out to help those we can; in other words, to love our neighbor as ourselves.
 
The cross reminds us that Jesus leads us to both—He leads us into a relationship with God that is never meant to end, and he leads us to recognize God’s image in our neighbor and those to whom we extend our lives.
 
Behold the wood of the cross, and hold onto faith and hope. The cross leads us to Easter and the news of an empty tomb.