WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2025 ASH WEDNESDAY
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We will all die and our bodies will rot. As one of my friends said, “we’re all going to return as dust, and that’s why I don’t dust my house - it might be what’s left of one of my friends!”
(much is adapted from: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/574643/ash-wednesday-facts)
Today is Ash Wednesday, which is about 40 days before Easter. (How long is Lent? Lent spans 40 days, from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday, which always occurs the day before Easter Sunday. However, since this doesn't include Sundays, Lent is technically 46 days long.)
While Ash Wednesday is perhaps most closely associated with Catholicism, many Christian sects recognize it, including Lutherans, Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and some Baptists. Some Christians refrain from celebrating the holy day, including Mormons, Evangelicals, and Pentecostal Christians.
(Jews and other religions also fast and pray. For Muslims fasting during Ramadan means abstinence from all food or drink, including water and chewing gum, from dawn to sunset. We are currently in the season of Ramadan.)
The first Ash Wednesday ceremonies were likely held in the 11th century CE. Although fasting is never mentioned in the Bible, a verse in the Book of Daniel links fasting to ashes, and some scholars believe this is the origin of the Lenten practice. Ash Wednesday didn't gain mainstream popularity with Christians in the U.S. until the 1970s.
The ashes used on Ash Wednesday are surprisingly eco-friendly. On Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, many churches pass out palm fronds like those used to welcome Jesus Christ to Jerusalem days before his crucifixion. Some churches save those palms to burn them and make the ashes applied to people's foreheads roughly 11 months later.
The ashes used on Ash Wednesday are meant to represent dust. When receiving ashes on their foreheads, parishioners hear, "Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return." This refers to what God says to Adam when exiling him from the Garden of Eden (in the Christian Bible, Adam is formed from dust). On Ash Wednesday, the saying is a reminder to be humble in the face of mortality.
Ash Wednesday can be a day of fasting. For many Christians, that doesn't mean abstaining from food altogether. Instead, observers of the holy day should limit themselves to one whole meal plus two smaller meals that, when added up, don't equal a meal they would eat on a typical day. Christians marking Ash Wednesday should also avoid eating meat like on Fridays during Lent. (Filet-o-fish is still okay to eat, though.) [Aside - these are “suggestions” - eating meat won’t send you to hell. The concept of reflecting upon God is the important things.]
The Tuesday before Ash Wednesday is customarily reserved for partying (think: Mardi Gras), but the fun doesn't stop there in Iceland. The first day of Lent in Iceland is similar to Halloween in the U.S. Kids dress up in costumes and tour their neighborhoods singing songs in exchange for candy. The holiday even makes room for mischief—in one fading tradition, kids will sometimes pin "ash bags" (often filled with grains instead of ash) to the backs of their peers when they aren't looking.
Some churches offer "ashes to go" on Ash Wednesday. Priests and pastors will often station themselves in public places—like street corners, parking lots, and public transit stops—prepared to administer ashes to whoever asks to receive them.
Along those lines, you don't need to be a church leader to administer ashes. Many churches allow parishioners to take packets of ashes home with them to apply to the foreheads of loved ones who couldn't make it to the service. Receiving ashes isn't a sacrament, so the rules surrounding it aren't as strict as other religious rites.
(I will receive - and give - ashes in my weekly prayer group tonight!!)
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I found this article to be interesting. I didn’t realize the date aspects - originating in the 11th century, or that it became more commonplace in the 1970s.
The senior independent living facility - affiliated with the Methodist Church - where I used to work, will have ashes four times that day - twice with their local chaplain, once with a Lutheran pastor, and once with a person from the local Catholic parish.
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BUT … let’s consider Matthew 6
“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your unseen Father; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
“Do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others”
Hmm - so when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face. Are they showing off - “disfiguring their faces to show others that they are fasting”???
Are we showing out faith to others - or are we flaunting so others know we are “holier than they are”? Am I ashamed of the gospel if I clean my face? (Romans 16 “ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God”)
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(Tongue-in-cheek) When I fast, I tape a sign to the back of my top that says, “I’m fasting today.”
When I taught and received ashes, I tried to clean my forehead before going to class. I didn’t want to suggest that I am a “super saint”.
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But maybe the concept of Ash Wednesday is whether it causes people to reflect on their faith. Will they consider a cross a horrifying place of painful death? Will they consider prayer, humility, and penance? Will their faith deepen during this Lenten period?
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LOVE WINS!!!
Karen
March 2, 5, 2025
