In less
than two weeks, Catholics will go to church and find themselves single-file in
line awaiting their turn to be covered with ashes. The sign of the cross will
be smeared with gritty black soot on our foreheads while the priest says one of
two phrases: “Remember, O man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall
return,” or, “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.” The former is
most often used.
And
for the rest of the day, we wear our ashes like discipleship billboards signaling
to passers-by that we are beginning our 40-day fast. Watch news or ESPN on
February 10, and you are bound to discover some television personalities are
Catholic, wearing their ashes as a sign that they are different, set apart, as
a trophy, as if to say, “I’m Christian, it’s Lent, and I want you to know that.”
But as
much as I like the symbolism to the world and reminder to myself of ashes on
the commencement of Lent, I can’t help but admit of how reticent I am of living
out what they represent: death.
“Remember
that you are dust.” The last thing most of us want is to be dust. We do so very
many things to avoid our finite, material reality. We dye our hair when it
begins to turn gray. We name foundations in our honor that our names will be
announced annually even though our own voices are silenced. We nip and tuck and
lipo-suck our bodies until no one, at least in their reactions to our faces, can
believe that we are really 20 years older than we appear. We avoid death. We
live like we hate it! And still we line up to be told that we are and shall be
dust again.
So what
draws us? Why do we receive the ashes?
Because,
even though we miss the truth when we focus too much on this bodily life, we
know the truth: we are finite, and we know we need God’s grace in order to live
beyond this life.
“Remember
that you are dust” makes sense to us because of our faith. Remembering is only
part of the story, though. Lent is about taking a new step with new energy in “turning
away from sin and being faithful to the Gospel.” This Lent, consider how one of
your 40-day practices might help you to live less for this life and more for
the Life to come.
