Ash Wednesday

Christians have been marking Ash Wednesday for over a thousand years now.  The “day of ashes” harkens back to the eighth century.  So many things have changed in the church over the last twelve hundred years, but this ritual has remained virtually the same.  Perhaps it is one reason so many of us are here today.  It’s not an obligation – the church doesn’t demand it.  But we can’t help ourselves.  It’s in our Catholic DNA.

But perhaps there is more to it than we realize – especially now.  More than ever before, it seems, we live in an age of ashes.  This soot is a reminder of the fires that have lit our world and the embers left behind from so many wars and so many ruins.  Think of the fires of Hiroshima, of Auschwitz, of Vietnam, of New York, of Syria and the Middle East.

We are citizens of a world on fire and this is our residue, our stain.  Yet, even though we bear this mark and have left it on others, we go on.  We hope.  We repent.  We reconcile ourselves with God.  We pray.  We rebuild.  We believe in something better to come: redemption and resurrection.  But first there is work to do.  And so, we are beginning Lent.

The question I ask you is this: what will we do about it?  A lot of people we’ll meet will notice the ashes and ask, “What are you giving up?”  Good question.  But I like to remind myself that the first word of “giving up” is giving.  It is not truly a sacrifice unless it is also, somehow, a gift.  An offering of self, with no expectation of getting anything in return.

Well, try this: spend a few moments respectfully listening to someone you can’t stand – or somebody that no one else likes, either.  Or if that seems like too much, try this: fold a 20-dollar bill and slip it into the Rice Bowl.  Pray for a stranger or an enemy.  Visit the sick, the aging, the shut-in.  Get involved with politics.  Light a candle for all those who are lost, frightened, uncertain, or alone.

In short, begin this season of giving up… by giving.  Plant those small seeds of sacrifice.  Tend them.  Nurture them.  And then let the roots take hold.  And, in time, grace will grow.  It is all grace, amazing grace.  And it grows out of sacrifice, and prayer – and ashes.

Paul A. Magnano

Pastor