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It’s how Job described his repentance after questioning God’s justice. It was postponed, this gave Adam and Eve and their descendants time to repent.Īshes then came to also symbolize repentance. Second, this meant that there was also a limit to his suffering. First, in limiting the term of life on earth, the extent of mankind’s sin was correspondingly curtailed. In the sentence of death, early Church commentators saw three aspects of God’s mercy at work. The ashes, then, also remind us that we are sinners facing the punishment of eventual death.īut even in this message there is an undertone of hope. They were then punished by means of their own sin-condemned to rest in the dust, that is to die and be buried in the ground. Rather than rising to their divine calling, the first man and woman sank back into the dust. Rather than pursue what is eternal and invisible, Adam and Even became captivated by the temporal and visible.
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Of course, in the Fall, all this went horribly awry. There is a noble humility to the original human condition. The ashes then, remind us that we are compound creatures: called up from the very dust to set our sights on the heavens. This means that everything we have derives from Him. Genesis 1:26-27 informs us that we are made in the image of God. So, before we take the Fall into account, the ashes on our forehead remind us something about the human condition. Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. These words also allude back to the creation of man in Genesis 2:7, They are the contained in the curse of Genesis 3:19 that is visited upon Adam after the eating of the forbidden fruit. The words accompanying the rite of ashes should ring familiar to Catholics who know their Bibles. Because nothing gets your attention like someone drawing ashes on your forehead-as a symbol of your death, no less-in the shape of an instrument of lethal torture. Apparently, getting told that you will one day rot in the ground is not something one gets used to.Īnd that seems by design: Lent stops us dead in our tracks in a way that other liturgical seasons do not. But I know lifelong Catholics who are also unsettled by these words. He just wants you.I was still relatively new to the Church at the time, so I could have only heard these words a few times before. Peel back the layers so you can truly live the Passion, death, and Resurrection with Our Lord. What earthly worries, material concerns, and fleeting pleasures occupy your thoughts and steal your time from the true Lover of your soul? Maybe try one of these suggestions, or perhaps even do a progressive Lenten journey-adding another small task or sacrifice each week of Lent to purify your soul even further. Just our humble humanity with Him at the Cross.Īs we enter the Lenten season this week, I’d like to challenge you to pick a strategic way to dig into the layers of your heart over the next forty days. He doesn’t want the fluff, lavish gifts, or perfect and pious prayers. It’s insufficient, but that’s all He wants. Looking up at Him, all we will have to give Him is ourselves. Until all that’s left is our soul in front of Christ on the cross on Good Friday. The time of sacrifice leading up to Christ’s Passion, death, and Resurrection, allows us to dive deep into our interior lives and peel back our layers one by one until we are completely naked. It’s the perfect way to start the forty days of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that characterize Lent. The Ash Wednesday reminder that my body is temporary but my soul is forever points me back to the reality of what my life should be truly working toward: Heaven. But my soul? Yeah, that thing is around for eternity, either in heaven or hell, so better take darn good care of it. Which means my small, petty, material worries-the way I look, how successful I am, if I can save enough for my future, if I will ever find a spouse, etc.-really don’t matter in the grand scheme of life because all of it will turn to dust anyways. The worst of the sinners and the greatest of the saints. The richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor. I know it might sound a little strange, but I find the words kind of comforting.īefore you call me crazy for thinking my impending death and decay is a comforting thought, hear me out. When we go to Mass on Wednesday and enter into the season of Lent, we will hear the priest say these words as he traces the sign of the cross on our foreheads with ashes. “For dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19).