THE MESSAGE IN ASHES
The title of my reflection for this Ash Wednesday is,
“The Message In Ashes.”
Today is Ash Wednesday.
What’s the message in ashes?
Sometimes we might have that question - but we best not
ask it.
We see a dark marble urn on a shelf over a fireplace. We
begin staring at it, but we dare not
ask, “Is that the remains of someone you loved?”
We see around someone’s neck a golden chain - that has on
it a tiny - rosary bead size - see through glass something - with something
grey inside - and we get the feeling - that we’re looking at a tiny ash remains
of someone.
The message in those ashes seems to be: “It’s hard to let
go of those we love.”
We see on a shelf - a see through plastic box - with
charred wood inside and the picture of burnt down home. We can ask about that. “Was that your home?
Did it burn down?” And the person whose shelf holds that picture of a burnt
house charred wood tells us about a home
they lived in - that burnt to the ground and all was lost - pictures, records,
certificates, the precious mementos of a lifetime - a good 17 years ago.
It’s Ash Wednesday and a person is walking down a street
till they come to a church. That person hears music and drops into church to
see what’s going on. They hear a sermon and then they see people coming up the
aisles to get black ashes - thumbed into their forehead - in the shape of a rough looking cross. They
sense the scene has a sense of the
sacred, the mysterious, life and death. They get the gist of what is happening.
And then they go up themselves to
receive the ashes and hear the words, “Remember that you are dust and into dust you shall return.” as ashes
are thumbed into their brain.
They ask someone afterwards - in the parking lot, “What
was that all about?”
And a stranger tells a stranger, “It’s Ash Wednesday -
the beginning of Lent.”
What’s the message in the ashes?
“We’re reminded today that we have 40 days - called
“Lent” - to reflect upon our lives -
what’s important - what lasts and what doesn’t last.
Toys break - the little girl loses her doll or her
blankie - or friends when her daddy
loses his job and the family has to move to another state - for another job.
Teenagers play sports and their team has a horrible year
- losing game after game after game. A kid doesn’t make the play, the team, the
National Honor Society. Grandma dies and
they say what they used to say year’s earlier: “Life is not fair.”
Young people start to date and they get dumped and their
feelings are crushed. They get married and they discover the better and the
worse - and sometimes the worse is when they get burnt.
What’s the message in the ashes?
Lent is a season - 40 days to fast from too much food or
drink or TV - but to do all that in secret and not to show off or to toot one’s
own horn about what we are doing for Lent.
Lent is the time to take gained time and visit or call and
spend some sacred time with people who are shut ins - or to take long walks to
figure out life.
Lent is 40 days to do what Jesus did - to go into the
desert - where no one is - and discover the within. Lent is a time to pray -
alone - there are public prayers of course - but the prayer Jesus is talking
about in today’s gospel is inner room prayer - secret prayer that nobody sees
but me and God.
The title of my homily is, “The Message In Ashes.”
What hit me this morning is all the above - but
especially the following message: Ashes are a sign of movement towards the
invisible - towards the great values - towards the Invisible God.
