Busy healthcare workers would not leave without the ashy cross. Yet, one function of Ash Wednesday is to remind us of the frailty of the human condition in a most basic way: We are dust, and to dust we will return ( Genesis 3:19).įurther, I found it interesting that the sign of ashes was the most requested part of the service. I had noticed that our society is often “allergic” to death: People don’t like talking about it, there is a cult of youth in culture, and it’s often tempting to make decisions that do not take our finitude into account. The visitors who came perhaps wanted a taste of a familiar ritual as they maneuvered the unexpected or difficult within the hospital walls.ĭespite this reasoning, its popularity still struck me as odd as a young chaplain. The healthcare workers who came for the mark of ashes knew well the miracle and frailty of life. Maybe it was because there are everyday reminders of life and death at a hospital.
The chapel service for Ash Wednesday was our most well-attended service of the year when I worked as a hospital chaplain. Participants will be praying the prayer above, and then they will say this line as they make the sign of the cross on their forehead or that of a loved one: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return” ( Genesis 3:19). My church will distribute small bags of ashes with a prayer and instructions for ash disposition. Some churches will still be celebrating Ash Wednesday but may be doing so remotely this year due to the pandemic. Guide our steps this Lent, so that we might find greater fulfillment in your promises and better serve others with a heart that’s reflective of you. As we remember our mortality and seek penitence today, we know you to be a God who is rich in forgiveness and abounding in steadfast love, love that culminates in eternal life with you. Look upon us as we enter these Forty Days bearing the mark of ashes, and bless the journey through the desert of Lent to the font of rebirth. Merciful God, you called us forth from the dust of the earth you claimed us for Christ in the waters of baptism. I invite you to pray this prayer with me as we step into Lent:
I am indebted to Chaplain Nancy Waite and Evanston Northwestern Hospital for their mentorship. This prayer draws from the Ash Wednesday chapel service in my chaplain days. Christians in the early church were sprinkled with ashes during Lent however, it wasn’t until the Middle Ages that the church began the Ash Wednesday practice of marking foreheads.ĭownload your FREE copy of our 40-Day Lent and Easter Devotional - filled with daily Scriptures, reflections, and prayers for the Lent season. The ashes for Ash Wednesday are typically provided by burning the palms from Palm Sunday of the year prior.
While Ash Wednesday isn’t mentioned in the Bible, Scripture does testify to the practice of repenting in dust and ashes.
0 kommentar(er)
