Ash Wednesday
On Wednesday, February 14 we gathered for an Ash Wednesday dinner, craft, and service. Watch the service.
Ash Wednesday developed as a day of repentance to mark the beginning of Lent. It emphasizes a dual encounter: we confront our mortality and confess our sins before God within the community of faith. Ash Wednesday, as with the entire season of Lent, is particularly appropriate for new beginnings in the faith or returning to the Lord. During this time, we intentionally recall our own mortality and wait upon the Lord for the renewing of the Spirit. This is a time for putting aside the sins and failures of the past in light of who we are yet to become by the grace of God.
We walk through Lent so our participation in the Easter season may be authentic and a true dying and rising with Christ to a new life in God. Ashes are the traditional sign of sorrow and repentance and are also a sign of “mortality.” Receiving the ashes reminds us that God’s love is triumphant over sin and death and that God remains in communion with us; that in Christ, our mortality is overcome.
