Today is Ash Wednesday, and Ames churches are observing the beginning of the 40-day Lent season — with or without the actual ashes.

St. Thomas Aquinas Church and Catholic Student Center, 2210 Lincoln Way, has four services for Ash Wednesday: noon, 5:15 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.

The Rev. Everett Hemann, pastor at St. Thomas, said all are welcome to attend today’s services for Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of the 40 days of Lent that lead up to Easter Sunday.

“The Scriptures we use call for us to act justly, give to the poor and needy and be reconciled,” he said. “All three of those really are a call to change our lives, to live better the Gospel message.”

Hemann said the services include reading Scripture, celebrating Eucharist — a prayer of thanksgiving — and distributing ashes.

“The Catholics are the ones who walk around campus with ashes in the shape of a cross smeared on our forehead,” he said.

The ashes come from burning the palms of the previous year’s Palm Sunday, Hemann said.

“On Palm Sunday, we remember Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem, and we wave palms,” he said. “And then on Ash Wednesday, what we do is we burn those palms and make ashes.”

Hemann said drawing the shape of the cross with the ashes serves a dual purpose.

“They serve as a reminder to ourselves, first of all. The words that are said when you put the ashes on a person’s head are ‘Repent and believe the good news about our lord, Jesus Christ,'” he said. “Then when we go out, we become kind of a walking billboard for the call to reform, to change our life.”

Aaron Saunders, senior in chemical engineering, said he will be wearing ashes on his forehead all day tomorrow. He said he enjoys the tradition.

“It’s a neat sign of my faith, and it’s a good way to start thinking about the Easter season,” Saunders said.

Richard Osslung, pastor at Memorial Lutheran Church, 2228 Lincoln Way, said the church is having holy communion services tonight and every Wednesday night at 7 throughout the 40 days of Lent.

“Forty in the bible is a number that often means a time of preparation. In the church’s beginning, first there was 40 hours of preparation for Easter, then there were 40 days of preparation,” he said. “Easter is the most important church day for Christians, so it’s important to get prepared for it.”

Though Memorial Lutheran does not have the tradition of putting ashes on participants’ foreheads, he said the ashes are significant to Lent.

“There’s a Bible quote that says, ‘ashes to ashes, dust to dust,’ and it’s a sign of death and dying, and Ash Wednesday and Lent is a time when Christians become aware of their death and their dying,” Osslung said.

Osslung said while Lent is a time of recognizing death, Easter focuses on life.

“Lent is a time of recognizing that because we have sinned against God, we deserve to die and we will. And Easter is a time where we realize that we will be reborn again in Christ,” he said.

While some religions traditionally give up something during the 40 days of Lent, Osslung said others prefer to do something new, such as volunteering at a food shelter.

“Other traditions — and I think this is becoming more popular — they think of something to take on that’s good for others and a help to others, instead of just giving up something like candy,” he said. “Either way, it’s just a way to remind you of how God loves you.”