Ash Wednesday Mass Live Stream 2015: Time, Channel And How To Watch Online And On TV

Not all Christians can make it to church on Ash Wednesday, but there is way to include those who still want to participate. Thanks to the Internet, the mass can be streamed live.

Click here to watch Ash Wednesday Mass live from the Vatican, courtesy of CatholicTV Network. The mass starts at 9:30 a.m. EST. Even if a computer isn’t accessible, Christians can hear the words of the Gospel though CatholicTV’s Android and iPhone apps. If 9:30 a.m. is not convenient-- or too early-- the mass will be replayed at 7 p.m. and 11.30 p.m.

For those who are more familiar with EWTN, Eternal Word Television Network, a mass will be held at 8 a.m. EST. EWTN is also providing a live stream footage, which can be viewed here.

During his Ash Wednesday homily last year, Pope Francis said people should not be consumed with material items, but instead look to God to feel complete. "What matters is not appearances, and the value of life does not depend on the approval of others or of success, but on what we have inside," the Pope said, according to CBS News. "Lent comes providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy.”

Christians traditionally sacrifice something, whether it be just soda or fast food, as penance during the Lenten season. Pope Francis encouraged people to fast to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, who, as the King James Bible says, did not eat for 40 days or 40 nights.

"Fasting makes sense if it really chips away at our security and, as a consequence, benefits someone else, if it helps us cultivate the style of the good Samaritan, who bent down to his brother in need and took care of him,” the pope said last year.

For traditional ideas on what to give up for Lent, click here, and for different ideas on what to do, click here.

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