Ashes

Yesterday on approaching the Most Blessed Sacrament, I felt myself burning and I had to withdraw. I am astounded that so many who receive Jesus are not reduced to ashes.
St. Gemma Galgani

Today is Ash Wednesday which begins the 40 day preparation for the holiest Christian feast--Easter. Catholics go to Mass and the priest makes a sign of the cross with blessed ashes made from burnt palms from the previous Palm Sunday on their foreheads. The priest then says,

Remember man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.

or,

Repent and believe in the Gospel.

We will all die and "turn to ashes." Therefore, we must look inward during this penitential season and repent of our sins before God.

Ashes have long been a symbol of penitence. In the Old Testament,

all the Israelite men, women and children who lived in Jerusalem prostrated themselves in front of the temple building, with ashes strewn on their heads, displaying their sackcloth covering before the Lord. (Jdt 4:11; see also 4:15 and 9:1).

Jesus mentions sackcloth and ashes as a sign of repentance as well.

For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. (Mt 11:21, Lk 10:13)

Our culture does not put much credence in such things as sin and repentance, or even death, although they are all around us. Well, humankind still sins and will die; Therefore, we all need the grace that repentance brings--perhaps now more than ever.

Lent is a reminder to us that we, as human beings, are not the be-all and the end-all of the universe. There is a Greater Good--much greater than we can ever conceive of. Let us turn to Him in our prayers daily during this Lent, asking for the grace to do His will.