Blessing of Ashes
These palm leaves have turned from green branches into gray ashes. This is the way it goes with us. We do not remain the same. We grow older, we make life gray and dusty for ourselves and for others. These ashes remind us of the brittleness of life, of our guilt and the penance we need. We will humbly receive these ashes as we are marked with the sign of the cross, for our hearts are willing to follow Jesus on the way of self-denial and love.
Introduction by the Celebrant
Today we begin our forty days of Lent, forty days of preparation for Easter. Why these forty days of penance? To return to our roots — to God, to our better selves — and consequently also to our neighbor. In many ways we have tried to be our own gods, to decide for ourselves what is right or wrong, and we have ended up by making ourselves the center of the world at the expense of ourselves, of God, of our neighbor. Now is the right time to return to God and to turn to the people around us. We express our brokenness and our readiness to change when, after the gospel, we receive the ashes.
In many regions of the world people celebrate carnival in the days before Lent with much noise and merrymaking. Often they wear masks for the occasion. But today Lent begins, the time to put off our masks and to turn our face and heart to God and to people. In this holy season we reflect on the true meaning of our lives. Who am I and what am I living for? Am I living for God and the community? We shall be invited to receive ashes on our foreheads with the invitation, “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel.” Away, then, with all masks and return to God, to your true self and to one another as God’s people.
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Those who are frequent travelers are familiar with the use of GPS (Global Positioning System). When they have to drive to an unfamiliar or distant place, they set their GPS to guide them through the right route to their destination. People have often depended on GPS to reach their destinations. During travels, we may make wrong turns and take wrong exits. Every time we make an error, the GPS patiently “recalculates” and guides us on to the right route from the wrong location we are at.
The season of Lent is like the GPS. We have set out on a long journey through “narrow” and “rough” paths (Matt 7:13-14) toward an exciting destination. But the journey is hard and long, and we often take wrong exits or digress into dangerous alleys. The season of Lent, with its gentle reminders, warnings, and exhortations, gives us the necessary software to recognize our errors, locate the right route, and get back on the path to our right destination. Happy journeying!
The rite of the imposition of ashes puts us on the "way of true conversion." In the background are the words of the Sermon on the Mount which propose in a different hue the three major characteristics of Jewish spirituality: almsgiving, prayer and fasting. They are the three stars that should shine in the Lenten sky of every Christian; three values that have to be lived in a new way. It's not about morality or external devotions but vital choices born of love that translate into love for God and neighbor.
From Fr. Tony Kadavil:
Introduction: Ash Wednesday (dies cinerum) is
the Church’s Yom Kippur or the “Day of Atonement.” Its very
name comes from the Jewish practice of doing penance wearing “sackcloth and
ashes.” The Old Testament tells us how the people of Nineveh (Jonah 3:5),
King Ben Hadad of Syria (1 Kg 20:31-34), and Queen Esther (4:16) fasted wearing
sackcloth and ashes. In the early Church, Christians who had committed serious
sins were instructed to do public penance wearing sackcloth and ashes. The
Church instructs us to observe Ash Wednesday and Good Friday as days of full
fast and abstinence. Fasting is prescribed to reinforce our penitential prayer
during the Lenten season. The prophet Joel, in the first reading, insists that
we should experience a complete conversion of heart and not simply regret for
our sins. In Psalm 51, our Responsorial Psalm today, the Psalmist acknowledges
his sin and begs God for His Mercy. Saint Paul, in the second reading, advises
us “to become reconciled to God.” Today’s Gospel instructs us to
assimilate the true spirit of fasting and prayer.
Ash Wednesday messages:
# 1: We need to purify and
renew our lives during the period of Lent by repentance, which means expressing
sorrow for sins by turning away from occasions of sins and returning to God. We
need to express our repentance by being reconciled with God daily, by asking for
forgiveness from those whom we have offended and by giving unconditional
forgiveness to those who have offended us.
# 2: We need to do prayerful fasting
and little acts of penance for our sins and share our blessings generously with
others, following the example of 40 days of fasting and prayer by Jesus before
his public ministry. Fasting reduces our “spiritual obesity” or the excessive
accumulation of “fat” in our soul in the form of evil tendencies, evil habits
and evil addictions. It also gives us additional moral and spiritual strength
and encourages us to share our blessings with the needy.
This custom was
introduced by Pope Gregory I (served September 3, 590 to March 12, 604;
McBrien, Lives of the Popes, p. 96), and it was enacted as a
universal practice in all of Western Christendom by the Synod of Benevento (AD
1091). Since the 11th century, receiving ashes on the first day of Lent has
been a universal Christian practice. It was Pope Urban II who in the 11th
century recommended that all Catholics take part in the practice of receiving
ashes on Ash Wednesday. In the 12th century it became customary that the ashes
used on Ash Wednesday were made by burning the previous year’s palm branches.
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of full fast and
abstinence. Fasting is prescribed to reinforce our penitential prayer during
the Lenten season. The prophet Joel, in the first reading, insists that we
should experience a complete conversion of heart and not simply sorrow for our
sins. In Psalm 51, our Responsorial Psalm today, the Psalmist begs God for
Mercy, acknowledges his sin, expresses his repentance and begs for a “clean
heart: and a “steadfast spirit” with which to live a changed life and persevere
in it. Saint Paul, in the second reading, advises us “to become reconciled
to God.” Today’s Gospel instructs us to assimilate the true spirit of fasting
and prayer. According to the Bible scholar Dr. Watson, it is one of the great
ironies of our Faith that, on this day that seems so negative and so focused on
death and sin, more people come to Church than on almost any day of the year,
except Christmas and Easter. The reason probably is that today, we are all
equally humbled before God, accepting the Lenten message: ‘Repent, believe the
Good News, turn away from your sins and turn back to Jesus Christ.’
The blessing of the ashes and its significance: The
priest dipping his thumb into ashes (collected from burnt palms of the previous
year’s Palm Sunday), marks the forehead of each with the sign of the cross,
saying the words, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you will
return” or “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” By
marking the sign of the cross with ashes on the foreheads of her children, the
Church gives us:
1- a firm conviction that a) we are mortal beings, b) our
bodies will become dust when buried and ashes if cremated, and c) our
life-span is very brief and unpredictable;
2- a strong warning that we will be eternally punished if we
do not repent of our sins and do penance; and
3- a loving invitation to realize and acknowledge our sinful
condition and return to our loving and forgiving God with true repentance
as the prodigal son did.
Ash Wednesday messages: We are invited to
produce a real conversion and renewal of life during the period of Lent by
fasting, penance, reconciliation and generous sharing.
I- We are to spent time in prayer, talking to God and listening
to Him.
Prayer helps us to turn our attention to God and turn away
from what keeps us from God.
When we pray, we listen to the Good News God whispers to us
in mental prayer or through meditation on the Bible or in the Rosary.
By increasing the quality and the quantity of our prayer, we
get strength to fight against our temptations and grow in intimacy or
relationship with God. Our prayer life can be enhanced during Lent by
participating in the daily Mass, by making the Stations of the Cross, and by reading
the Holy Bible every day, applying the message to our lives.
II- We are to fast:
a) by following the example of Jesus before his public
ministry, and b) by imitating the king and the people of Nineveh (Jon 3:7), who
fasted in sackcloth pleading for mercy from the Lord God; the Syrian King, Ben
Hadad (I Kgs 20:31-34), who did not fast, but wore sackcloth and begged
Israel’s King Ahab for his life); Queen Esther who fasted, put ashes and dirt
on her head and wore “garments of distress” instead of her royal robes, begging
God to save her people (Est 4:16); the soldiers of Judas Maccabaeus who fasted
so greatly they felt too weak to fight (1 Mc 3:17); and St. Paul who observed “frequent
fastings” (2 Cor 11:27).
(Historical note: In the past, the Greek Orthodox
Christians had 180 days of fasting and the Orthodox as well as Catholic Syrian
Christians had 225 to 290 days of fasting every year. The Roman Church also had
a number of fast days. Technically speaking, fasting is now only required on
two days, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday in Lent. In the United States, in
addition, abstinence alone is commanded on all Fridays of Lent).
Biblical Fasting: True fasting is “tearing
one’s heart and returning to God” with true repentance for one’s sins
(Jl 2:13). It is “breaking unjust fetters, freeing the oppressed,
sharing one’s bread with the hungry, clothing with the naked and home with the
homeless, and not turning away from the needy relatives” (Is 58:6-7). Fasting
allows us to subordinate our bodily desires and needs to those of our soul. It
allows us to control our desires rather than let them control us. By fasting we
learn to control a desire that is necessary for survival (eating), and control
desires for things that they don’t really need to survive, like drugs, sex or
booze. Following the Biblical instruction, let us fast not only from food, but
also from foul and dirty language, judging others, gossiping, and verbal
negatives.
Advantages of fasting:
i) – It reduces the excessive accumulation of “fat” in our
soul in the form of evil tendencies and evil habits (=spiritual obesity).
ii) – It gives us additional moral and spiritual strength.
iii) – It offers us more time to be with God in prayer.
iv) – It encourages us to share our food and goods with
the needy.
v) – “There is joy in the salutary fasting and abstinence of
Christians who eat and drink less in order that their minds may be clearer
and more receptive to receive the sacred nourishment of God’s word, which
the whole Church announces and meditates upon in each day’s liturgy throughout
Lent” (Thomas Merton).
- For
the sin which we have committed before You under compulsion or of our own
will,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by hardening our hearts;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You unknowingly,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You with utterance of the lips;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by unchastity,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You openly or secretly;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You knowingly and deceitfully,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You in speech;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by wronging our neighbor,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by sinful meditation of the
heart;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by association with impurity,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by confession of the lips;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by spurning parents and
teachers,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You in presumption or in error;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by violence,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by the profanation of Your
name;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by unclean lips,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by impure speech;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by the evil inclination,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You wittingly or unwittingly;
(For all these, O God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us
atonement))
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by denying and lying,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by bribery;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by scoffing,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by slander;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You in commerce,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You in eating and drinking;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by demanding usurious interest,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by stretching forth the
neck in pride;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by idle gossip,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You with wanton looks;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You with haughty eyes,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by effrontery; (For all
these, O God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement).
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by casting off the yoke of Your
commandments
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by contentiousness;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by ensnaring our neighbor,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by envy;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by levity,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by being stiff-necked;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by running to do evil,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by tale-bearing;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by vain oaths,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You by causeless hatred;
- For
the sin which we have committed before You by breach of trust,
- And
for the sin which we have committed before You with confusion of mind;
(For all these, O God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us
atonement).
I address God as my Father by adoption through the grace of Jesus Christ and give thanks for His salvation.
I ask for my material needs for the day, itemizing and discussing them. I give thanks for specific instances of His providence in the past.
Play is the child's laboratory for learning about life. Children who have never played at being grown-up tend to be handicapped in some way when they have to confront the actual experience. Boys who have never been allowed to play with dolls can hardly be expected to hold their own infants with ease and loving confidence. It has to be a later learning if it is ever learned at all. Play may be a more valuable tool for learning than all the educational resources manufactured by the professionals.
Am I wrong in my impression, however, that most of us do not come to church to play, that play is the furthest thing from our minds? Play seems foreign to our understanding of religion, and if it is to be found in church at all, it is best restricted to the nursery and the carefully supervised activities of the youth groups. H.L. Mencken defined a puritan as a person with the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, might be happy. I know the puritan still comes to church with me from time to time. What about you?
Turns out, this young couple was recharging their cell phone. They had noticed a stray electric cable sticking out of the wall behind the statue of the Virgin Mary. Whenever their phone's power supply dwindled, the young couple came to the church and re-charged it from the cable behind the Virgin Mary. The priest states that the young couple is welcome to use his church for this purpose.
We talk about coming to church to "re-charge our batteries," but this is ridiculous. What looked to the unobservant eye like an act of piety was actually a self-serving ploy to save money. This young couple was using the church for their own needs. And we're shocked, shocked, I tell you--until we realize that we may be guilty of the same mistake.
Others are as solemn and quiet as a tomb.
Some lift their hands high in the air,
But others wouldn't, even on a dare.
Christians are different in style and in song;
But if they are humble, to Christ they belong."