EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH
Ash Wednesday time for reflection
By Jack Kampfer
You may notice people around you with dirty faces next Wednesday. Perhaps you'll think they're having a bad personal-hygiene day. Or maybe you'll think it's some kind of anti-something campaign. Or could it be that some practical joker was sneaking around smudging people's foreheads to cause them embarrassment?
Actually, it's none of the above.
It's Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the penitential period before Easter observed by many Christians. This 40-day period recalls the 40 days that Jesus endured temptation and deprivation in the desert, as recounted in Chapter 4 of the Gospel of Luke. Catholics begin this period called Lent with the placement of ashes on their foreheads.
The symbolism of ashes, together with wearing sackcloth, can be traced back to the Hebrew Scriptures (Jeremiah 6:26) and the Gospels (Matthew 11:21). Placing ashes upon oneself denoted humility, mourning and renouncing sinful practices.
The ashes used by the priest are the burned palms from Palm Sunday of the previous year. The priest marks a cross on the forehead with the ashes and says, "Remember, you are dust and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19). Or he may use the more modern and positive command, "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel" (Mark 1:15).
On the way home from one Ash Wednesday service, little Michael asked his mother: "Is it true, Mommy, that we are made of dust like the priest said tonight?"
"Yes, honey," she said.
"And is it true that we go back to dust again when we die?"
"Yes, dear."
"Well, Mommy, when I said my prayers last night and looked under the bed, I saw someone either coming or going."
Like dust under the bed, we are either coming or going: coming closer to God in our walk of faith or going farther off the Christian path. The ashes of Ash Wednesday remind us of our sinful nature, the shortness of life, and our constant struggle of coming toward or going away from God. The ashes also speak to us of our need for repentance, turning away from sin, and of our hope in eternal life with Jesus.
In the early Christian church, the imposition of ashes was associated most closely with the period of personal penance that led to re-entry into church life after separation because of serious sin. By the 11th century, however, the entire congregation was involved in receiving ashes on the forehead and in the Lenten penitential practices of prayer, fasting, donating to the needy, and abstaining from alcohol, meat and so on. Today, the sacrifice of giving up things shares equal emphasis with doing something positive for others.
People may perform volunteer work. They may pray more. They may write or call leaders to influence action for protection of the environment, for aid of the needy or for correction of social injustice. They may give blood. The options are endless.
Maybe Ash Wednesday will cause you to look at where you stand with God. Are you coming or going?
Jack Kampfer is the religious education coordinator at Our Lady of Sorrows (Catholic) Church.
