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ASH WEDNESDAY
James Akin
Q: What is Ash Wednesday?
A: Ash Wednesday is the day Lent begins. It occurs forty days before Good Friday.
Q: Is Ash Wednesday based on a pagan festival?
A: Heck, no. Ash Wednesday originated in the A.D. 900s, long after Europe had been Christianized and the pagan cults stamped out.
Q: Why is it called Ash Wednesday?
A: Actually, Ash Wednesday is its colloquial name. Its official name is the Day of Ashes. It is called Ash <Wednesday> because, being forty days before Good Friday, it always falls on a Wednesday and it is called <Ash> Wednesday because on that day at church the faithful have their foreheads marked with ashes in the shape of a cross.
Q: Why do they have their foreheads marked with a cross?
A: Because in the Bible a mark on the forehead is a symbol of a person's ownership. By having their foreheads marked with the sign of a cross, this symbolizes that the person belongs to Jesus Christ, who died on a Cross.
My wife just called me and told me about it. She asked me not to eat meat today. We are going to mass tonite.
a couple of more thoughts about the day---the imposition of ashes signify repentance from and remorse for sin (like when Jonah preached against the sinners in Nineveh and they put on sackcloth and ashes to show they accepted his words) as well as our acceptance of the reality of sin and death ("thru sin death came into the world") that the words "remember man thou art but dust and to dust you shall return" refer to AND that the remedy for sin and death is faith in Christ---"repent and believe the Gospel"--through his death on the cross (the sign of the cross on the forehead).
that said, in the Roman Catholic Church, "ash Wednesday" is not a "holy day of obligation" and neither church attendance or having ashes imposed is required. OTOH, it is a day of "fast" (a definite reduction in the quantity and generally quality of food eaten observed in both the old and new testament) and "abstinence" (don't eat red meat--once a sign of luxury and celebration) as a exterior SIGN of an interior conviction of our sin and true sorrow for same.
such practices should be only the initial part of our "turning away" from sin and "turning to" God during Lent and every other time.
Last edited by georgeinbandonoregon; 02-18-2015 at 10:47 AM..
Reason: more info
a couple of more thoughts about the day---the imposition of ashes signify repentance from and remorse for sin (like when Jonah preached against the sinners in Nineveh and they put on sackcloth and ashes to show they accepted his words) as well as our acceptance of the reality of sin and death ("thru sin death came into the world") that the words "remember man thou art but dust and to dust you shall return" refer to AND that the remedy for sin and death is faith in Christ---"repent and believe the Gospel"--through his death on the cross (the sign of the cross on the forehead).
that said, in the Roman Catholic Church, "ash Wednesday" is not a "holy day of obligation" and neither church attendance or having ashes imposed is required. OTOH, it is a day of "fast" (a definite reduction in the quantity and generally quality of food eaten observed in both the old and new testament) and "abstinence" (don't eat red meat--once a sign of luxury and celebration) as a exterior SIGN of an interior conviction of our sin and true sorrow for same.
such practices should be only the initial part of our "turning away" from sin and "turning to" God during Lent and every other time.
My wife just called me and told me about it. She asked me not to eat meat today. We are going to mass tonite.
How many are going to church tonite?
So why does your church mark the foreheads of people that are not "of Christ"? Undoubtedly there will be some non-Christians that attend Mass and get the ashes on their foreheads. There will also be some with unconfessed "mortal sins" on their consciences.
So why does your church mark the foreheads of people that are not "of Christ"? Undoubtedly there will be some non-Christians that attend Mass and get the ashes on their foreheads. There will also be some with unconfessed "mortal sins" on their consciences.
how can anyone (but God) know for sure about the spiritual state of anyone ("judge not...." and so on). that said, the whole idea of the ceremony and the season that it officially kicks off is that EVERYBODY (even a Christian) is a sinner in some way and at some time ("...all have sinned and come short...") in need of God's grace through faith ("repent and believe the Gospel"). consider it maybe a bit like an "altar call" where people are called to come up to be "healed" or have other spiritual needs addressed. the whole ceremony is a public way to at least to start the process where you, I, every Christian) recognizes there is always more ways to follow Christ more closely and that the season is a good way to renew (or start) doing that. no "state of grace" is required to either to go to church or receive ashes or pray BUT that a more special "state of grace" is required for the worthy reception of the Eucharist---FWIW, one might in some ways consider the "state of grace" similar to the "wedding garment" required to enter into the wedding feast in the parable---those who didn't have it were thrust out)
hope this makes a little sense and is of some small help to you.
OTOH, Catholics (Eastern Orthodox, too I would think) are strongly urged during this season to make special use of the graces provided by the sacrament of reconciliation/penance by a sincere confession of and repentance for their sins to God through the ministry of a priest ("whose sins you forgive are forgiven, whose sins you retain are retained") so that they may indeed be free of serious sin and thus more fully "in Christ" in subsequent word and deed.
Last edited by georgeinbandonoregon; 02-18-2015 at 11:54 AM..
Reason: more infol
So why does your church mark the foreheads of people that are not "of Christ"? Undoubtedly there will be some non-Christians that attend Mass and get the ashes on their foreheads. There will also be some with unconfessed "mortal sins" on their consciences.
No big deal! God knows the heart of everybody. BTWm if you show up you will also get your ashes.
Are you doing anything special in your church this evening?
No big deal! God knows the heart of everybody. BTWm if you show up you will also get your ashes.
I guess it just struck me strange that you said the cross symbolizes that one is in Christ...but undoubtedly there will be some marked that are not in Christ.
Quote:
Are you doing anything special in your church this evening?
Nope. As Evangelicals we really don't get into that stuff. We will have our normal Wednesday night Bible study..but nothing related to Ash Wednesday.
I believe it is forty days before Easter, not counting Sundays.
Never heard the Sunday thing before, so I got out my calender and counted on my fingers and came up with 46 days, then counted up the Sundays and came up with 5, leaving one day unaccounted for. Well, maybe that's the zero implied and thus missed.
Funny ... all those years in a strict Catholic household as well as parochial school, and no one in my circle apparently ever actually counted.
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