Ash Wednesday

Today, millions of Catholics worldwide will have their foreheads blacken by ash. Some uninitiated people may think this odd. Some may even label this a 'calling attention to oneself.' Why do Catholics observe this ritual? For many it's a sign and an act of repentance. We ask the minister to put ash on our foreheads to remind us of our motal lives, our origin and our eventual destiny. From ash we were created and so to ash we shall all return.

But ash reminds us of one more important thing: that when we repent, our bodies die in sin but are resurrected in Christ. Like the ash that marks our forehead yet not forever there as it can be easily washed, our sins may mark our lives but they can be easily removed when we ask the Lord to forgive us. We die with our sins everytime we accept our faults and desire to be forgiven of them and resolve not to do them again. But we also rise again as soon as we receive God's forgiveness.

Yet Christ knows that we are humans, it's in our nature to sin. We commit the same mistakes over and over again. That's the reason why we have to ask for forgiveness over and over again. Ash Wednesday is also the first day of Lent. It ushers the triumphant entry of Jesus in Jerusalem, his passion, death and resurrection. Today, let us remember that we are sinful people and that we need God to heal us of our sinfulness. Let us make this day a special day for the Lord.

"Turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel."