And it throws into high relief what is really not important and what undermines our lives in this world and the next–namely, sin. When we remember that we are dust and that we will return to the dust, we are encouraged to find what is really important in our lives. The Ash Wednesday service makes that easy. He told them that the people who died in these ways were not to blame, but the shock of their dying should convey another meaning: “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3, 5). Both were memento mori to those present with Jesus. The fall of the Tower of Siloam in which 18 people were killed was a natural disaster, and Pilate’s execution of the Galileans and blasphemously mingling their blood with their sacrifices was a moral outrage. We Americans see the photographs and read the reports and need to realize that we could be drawn into this, that our troops are in harm’s way, and that war could happen to us.Īsh Wednesday is a memento mori, but it is one designed to lead us to repentance. In the Middle Ages those who were about to die were laid on the ground on top of a sackcloth sprinkled with ashes.Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a memento mori, as the peace that the West has taken for granted is interrupted by a recurrence of old-fashioned war. “But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” “For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. “But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. Jesus himself called for repentance in Matthew 11:20-24: “Then he began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. Sackcloth and ashes were also used as a public sign of repentance and humility before God.Īll of the “men and animals” in Ninevah were in sackcloth and ashes when Jonah preached repentance there. ![]() Daniel prophesized that the Babylonians would capture Israel when he wrote, “I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.” Job lamented in sackcloth and ashes after being severely tested. In the Book of Esther, Mordacai put on sackcloth and covered himself with ashes when he heard of King Ahasuerus’ decree to kill all the Jewish people in the Persian Empire. ![]() Catholics, and people of other denominations, visit their churches and embrace what may seem like the stone-cold ritual of receiving ashes and being told, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”īy participating in Ash Wednesday, Catholics are participating in the liturgical use of ashes that originated in ancient times. On Ash Wednesday people push aside the culture’s pulsating messages encouraging the pursuit of worldly indulgences and acknowledge their mortality and need for repentance.
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