The Meaning of Ash Wednesday

 Do you know what Ash Wednesday is?

In a Religious Education class some years ago, the teacher asked the question 'what is Ash Wednesday about?'  The replies from these primary children  included  (a) Ash Wednesday fires of 1983 in South Australia and (b) Test Cricket series between England and Australia.
This teacher certainly had her work ahead of her that Lent!!!

The ashes are made from the blessed palms used in the Palm Sunday celebration of the previous year. The ashes are christened with Holy Water and are scented by exposure to incense.  It is not only the Church being 'green and environmentally friendly', but it links us to our past Lenten Season and reminds us of the ongoing pilgrim journey of repentance. 

On Ash Wednesday, the priest or extraordinary minsters of the Eucharist distribute the ashes on our foreheads saying ' Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return' or Repent and believe the Good News'. These are not only powerful words.  At Baptism we are sealed on our foreheads. The ashes sign of the cross connects us again to our Baptism, and the words remind us to that we are a pilgrim people- our homeland is with God in Heaven. 

 

This simple ceremony to mark the beginning of Lent occurs in every Catholic Church throughout the world including St Peter's Basilica where the Pope both distributes and receives the ashes. As we receive the ashes, we are unity with the whole Catholic Church throughout the world. Everyone is following this same Lenten journey of repentance 'from the greatest to the least' as scripture tells us.

 In Scripture during Lent we hear the word sackcloth mentioned. So what is sackcloth?

 Sackcloth was originally a coarse hessian style of cloth used to make sacks or a coarse cloth resembling sacking. Sackcloth is mentioned in scripture at least 60 times in both Old and New Testament   It was a physical and visual reminder to all the community of an interior disposition of of mourning.repentance and remorse.

A few Lents ago, I decided to buy my own 'sackcloth' -something simple to wear in Lent.  The simple purple twinset purchased from an opportunity, shop which I wore mainly at home, was a physical reminder of my Lenten observances. I felt I was wearing my Lenten armory to fight the temptation of the fridge and pantry, and wearing it was physical reminder of the Lenten season.

May your Ash Wednesday be blessed.