You've Got Something On Your Forehead

So...it's Ash Wednesday. In honor of the day, I'm taking a break from my Guided Missal series just to give a little bit of background and context for what, to outsiders, must seem like an odd ritual.

Today, you probably got quite a few "You've got something..."s. Today, at least for one day, we wear a very visible reminder of our Christianity directly on our foreheads. But is it really about identifying who among our coworkers goes to Mass? And why ashes? 

To understand the significance of ashes, it's important to look at our frequent source of inspiration - the Hebrews. 

In many ways, Catholics have it easy - if we sin, we go to a tiny box and say everything we did, say a few prayers, and badaboom, absolution. For the ancient Hebrews, it was a bit...different. For one, they had the todah sacrifice. But as a visible sign of their penitence, they spent forty days wearing sackcloth and dumping ashes on themselves. Why? Because the ashes were a visible reminder of death. Ashes are the result of destruction...the remainders of death. If you listened closely when you received your ashes, you heard one of two things: "Repent and believe in the Gospel" or "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." 

So why the emphasis on death? The answer to that is at the heart of what Lent is all about - a journey to the cross. A journey to Christ's death, but also to our own. We must be "crucified with Christ" in order to rise with Him on Easter. 

Okay, so now we know why we get dirt smeared on our faces...but why forty days anyway? 

Forty actually comes up a lot throughout Scripture - 40 days of the Great Flood, 40 years in the desert, Jesus spent 40 days in the desert fasting, 40 days between Easter and the Ascension...and in every one of those cases, the main point was repentance. Forty is a symbolic number not only for the Hebrews but for us as well - symbolic of forgiveness and repentance...a return to God. 

Lent is the beginning of a journey. A journey to God and away from the world. A journey to turn away from sin. Lent is all about realizing that yes, we are weak. Yes, we will die. But yes, if we live the lives we should we will spend eternity with God.

So as you're suffering in some small way, perhaps from giving up something or not being able to eat a bacon cheeseburger today, unite that suffering with Christ on the cross.

Let's take this journey together. Ad Crucem. To the Cross.