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On Ash Wednesday, as Christians obtain an ash cross on their foreheads in a church service, they’re reminded that “you are dust / And to dust you shall return.”
This is why a specific command from the Bible to wish with out drawing consideration to oneself could seem a bit unusual in mild of the present practices of Ash Wednesday, the begin of the liturgical season of Lent.
“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward” (Matthew 6:5).
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The verse is from the Gospel of Matthew, one in all the three synoptic Gospels in the New Testament. It’s credited to St. Matthew, a man who was known as by Jesus to be one in all his disciples.
Not a lot is identified about St. Matthew — who is credited with writing the Gospel of Matthew, says Christian web site Overviewbible.com – he seems solely seven instances in the Bible.
It is a frequent apply on Ash Wednesday to get an ash cross – a image of repentance – positioned on one’s brow. (Getty Images)
The ashes used on Ash Wednesday every year come from the burned palm fronds of the earlier 12 months’s Palm Sunday celebrations.
Typically, ashes are distributed throughout a liturgy, however lately, “pop-up ashes” have emerged.
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Those who put on ashes on their brow usually are not signifying how holy or righteous they’re, stated Fr. Patrick Finn of Maine, the parochial vicar at Prince of Peace Parish in Lewiston, Lisbon Falls and Sabbatus, Maine.
Instead of a show of holiness, sporting ashes means one thing else fully.
“The value of the ashes on the forehead is first of all that they remind their wearer of the need to repent in concrete ways.”
It means the individual is a sinner.
“The value of the ashes on the forehead is first of all that they remind their wearer of the need to repent in concrete ways,” Finn instructed Fox News Digital.
In Jesus’ time, sackcloths and ashes have been used as a public show of repentance, says Bible Study Tools.
Humanity, stated Fr. Patrick Finn of Maine (proven at proper), is all the time in need of renewal — and Lent is the good time to “hold nothing back” when it comes to one’s relationship with God. (iStock; Fr. Patrick Finn)
While sackcloths have fallen out of use, the which means of sporting ashes on Ash Wednesday has stayed the identical.
“I probably shouldn’t be too eager to wash off a visible sign that reminds me of my utter dependence upon God,” stated Finn.
Wearing ashes is “a tremendous witness value,” Finn stated — not to attract consideration, however “to help others remember their need for God.”
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Humanity, he stated, “is always in need of renewal.”
“And that’s not just an abstract thing. I am in need of renewal, and in the very particular circumstances of my own life,” he stated.
The palm branches from final 12 months throughout Holy Week are burned to arrange for this 12 months’s Ash Wednesday. (iStock)
Lent, stated Finn, is a time to “reorient ourselves to God and the eternal — all that is ultimately true, good, and beautiful.”
This Lent, stated Finn, a individual ought to purpose to “dive in” and “hold nothing back.”
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“Be converted to Jesus in whatever new manner He might place before you this season,” he stated.
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