Lent Guide 2023Sample

Ash Wednesday – Where my journey starts

“For dust you are, and to dust you will return.”

Genesis 3:19

Today, in churches across the world, the sign of the cross is made with ashes on the foreheads of many Christians. Our journey as human beings starts with dust. The creation story tells us how God takes dust, forms a human being, breathes air into his lungs, and how he then becomes a living soul.

How is it for me to hear, “You are dust?

One reaction is to say with a sigh, “Yes, I know. So don’t expect too much from me. I had dreams, once, but they all came to dust. I’ve made too many mistakes and hurt too many people. There is no hope.”

Another way is to answer with determination, “Yes, I know, but I’ll show you. I’ll make something of myself, gather many possessions, be someone who others talk about.”

Both reactions speak to a conception that to be dust is not good.

And yet, when God made man, He said it was very good.

God knows how we are formed, remembers that we are dust. (Ps. 103:14)

And then the words, “to dust you will return”.

So often I live unaware of my mortality. A poet writes, “Everyone wants to go to heaven, but just not now.”

Today’s ashes and words remind me that I have limits and that my life will end at some point.

Exercise: Find a church near you that has a service today where you can receive the signs of the ashes. Alternatively, take a dried palm frond or any other ash, mix it with oil, and draw a cross on the foreheads of yourself and your loved ones.

During your time of prayer, become aware of where your life story started, before your birth. Talk to God about the things you become aware of.

Grace:

Lord, give me the grace to accept that I am dust.