{"id":1041,"date":"2016-02-09T16:52:17","date_gmt":"2016-02-09T21:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/mysticpost\/?p=1041"},"modified":"2016-02-09T18:25:21","modified_gmt":"2016-02-09T23:25:21","slug":"what-is-the-message-of-ash-wednesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mysticpost\/2016\/02\/09\/what-is-the-message-of-ash-wednesday\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the message of Ash Wednesday?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"
Ash Wednesday Wikipedia wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/9\/90\/Fa%C5%82at_Julian,_Popielec.jpg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

ASH WEDNESDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What is the message of Ash Wednesday? What does the liturgy of the word for Ash Wednesday say to you about Lent and following Christ?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The key word for this day, proclaimed to us by the prophet Joel, is \u201cturn.\u201d\u00a0 Joel has the Lord telling us \u201creturn to me with your whole heart\u201d (Joel 2:12).\u00a0 How?\u00a0 With prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.\u00a0 The intended essential turning is inward.\u00a0 \u201cRend your hearts, not your clothing\u201d (Joel 2:13).\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Those who fast, pray, and give alms only to be seen by others turn not to God but to human recognition and acclaim.\u00a0 The reward they seek is the reward they receive.\u00a0 Those who turn to God <\/strong>give without letting the left hand see the right, they allow God to measure the recompense.\u00a0 \u201cYour Father who sees in secret will reward you\u201d (Matthew 6:6).<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The mystery is this: integrity cannot be bought.\u00a0 It is gift.\u00a0 Turn to him, Joel counsels, and perhaps he will \u201cleave a blessing behind him\u201d (Joel 2:14).\u00a0 Humans who turn unselfishly hope to meet God\u2019s free turning in blessing. It is characteristic of our gracious and merciful God to relent, to turn, to forgive, to bless.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The turning of God is always a surprise, always out of proportion to the gift of the rent heart.\u00a0 God\u2019s people turn in prayer and fasting and almsgiving. God turns with the gift of life.\u00a0 At the climax of his turning, God made his Son to be like us that he might turn us to be the very holiness of God.<\/p>\n

The Son of God turned to take our nature that we, who did not know holiness, might live by his life.\u00a0 We are a new creation, reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Now the ministry to that gift has been entrusted to us through baptism. We are ambassadors for Christ, envoys of reconciliation.\u00a0 In Christ Jesus God has turned to us that we might turn to each other and all together return to him.<\/p>\n

WIKI FACTS<\/p>\n

Ash Wednesday<\/b>, a day of\u00a0fasting<\/a>, is the first day of\u00a0Lent<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Western Christianity<\/a>. It occurs 46 days (40 fasting days, if the 6 Sundays, which are not days of fast, are excluded) before\u00a0Easter<\/a>\u00a0and can fall as early as 4 February or as late as 10 March. Ash Wednesday isobserved<\/a>\u00a0by many\u00a0Western Christians<\/a>, including\u00a0Anglicans<\/a>,\u00a0Lutherans<\/a>,\u00a0Methodists<\/a>,\u00a0Presbyterians<\/a>, and\u00a0Roman Catholics<\/a>.[note 1]<\/a><\/sup>[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0canonical gospels<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Matthew<\/a>,\u00a0Mark<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Luke<\/a>,\u00a0Jesus Christ<\/a>\u00a0spent 40 days fasting in the desert, where he\u00a0endured temptation<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Satan<\/a>.[2]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Lent originated as a mirroring of this, fasting 40 days as preparation for Easter. Every Sunday was seen as a commemoration of the Sunday of Christ\u2019s resurrection and so as a feast day on which fasting was inappropriate. Accordingly, Christians fasted from Monday to Saturday (6 days) during 6 weeks and from Wednesday to Saturday (4 days) in the preceding week, thus making up the number of 40 days.[3]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of blessing ashes made from\u00a0palm branches<\/a>\u00a0blessed on the previous year\u2019s\u00a0Palm Sunday<\/a>, and placing them on the heads of participants to the accompaniment of the words \u201cRepent, and believe in the Gospel\u201d or \u201cRemember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return\u201d.[4]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

The wiki on Ash Wednesday<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ASH WEDNESDAY \u00a0Brother John M. Samaha, S.M. \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What is the message of Ash Wednesday? What does the liturgy of the word for Ash Wednesday say to you about Lent and following Christ? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The key word for this day, proclaimed to us by the prophet Joel, is \u201cturn.\u201d\u00a0 Joel has the Lord telling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2537,"featured_media":1046,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medjugorje"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is the message of Ash Wednesday?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"ASH WEDNESDAY \u00a0Brother John M. 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