Ash Wednesday is the Wednesday of the seventh week before Easter and the first day of Lent. The day is named for the practice of applying ashes in the sign of a small cross on the foreheads of each person with the words Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.
Using ashes as a sign of repentance is an ancient practice, often mentioned in the Bible. The early Christians adopted the use of ashes from Jewish practice as an external mark of penitence.
Examples include Jonah 3:5-9; Job 42:6; Jeremiah 6:26; Matthew 11:21.
The sign of the ashes reminds us...
... of our human mortality and frailty...
...that we are all broken. We have been hurt by others. We have hurt others. We need to tell the truth about this to ourselves and God...
...that in the midst of this mortal and broken life we are still called, named, claimed, and loved as children of God.
...what seems like an ending is really an invitation to make each day a new beginning, in which we are washed in God’s mercy and forgiveness.