ASHES ON OUR FOREHEADS AND HOPE IN OUR HEARTS…!
ASH WEDNESDAY

Today is Ash Wednesday. Traditionally, people come to church on this day in large numbers and formally begin the journey of lent by applying ashes on their foreheads. The Old Testament and New Testament refer to the use of ashes and sackcloth as signs of repentance. The prophet Jeremiah, for example, calls for repentance in this way: “ O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, roll in the ashes”(Jer 6:26).

Ashes is a reminder of our mortality. Before God breathed into the nostrils of ‘Adam’ he was nothing more than a clay image. The breath of God raised him to the level of a living being. Without God’s life in us, we are dust. Naturally Lent is a time to discover one’s status before God. It is a time for self -discovery.

Lent is a time of self purification. Never is better than late. Our distractions tell us who we are and where we are. The Bible offers three spiritual tools for our purification: prayer, fasting and alms giving. They are not three independent entities but three aspects of the one and the same reality. Prayer is nothing but being with Jesus. In order to be with Jesus, we need to detach (fast) ourselves from material things. Whatever we may give up may help others to meet the necessities of their lives. Our detachment ( almsgiving) will benefit the needy.

Lent is a time for self-restoration. There is a beautiful passage in the book of Prophet Isaiah: “Do not remember the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not, I am doing something new, says the Lord” “Your sins I remember no more” (Isaiah 43: 18, 25). God is a God of the future, not of the past. God wants to do something new in our life. In order to experience this newness that God promises we need to let our past go with all its bad and sad memories. We might have done awful things in the past. We may be still doing things that are unchristian, unethical and uncharitable. This is the time to break the chain of sinful habits. Brooding over the past memories of which we have no control do nothing good. They only paralyze our present. If God does not bother about our past sin, why do we? As every saint had a past every sinner has a future. Lent invites us to continue our journey focusing on Jesus with Hope in our Hearts…! Those who are in Jesus is a new creation. Lent is an invitation to climb the mount Calvary and have a vision of Mount Zion.