Ash Wednesday & Lent - What are they???
I come from a Southern Baptist background. Ash Wednesday and Lent were not discussed. To me it was only small print on the calendar, the day after Mardi Gras, and something Catholics did. But why do people celebrate it? What does it mean? Where did it come from? Will all my questions get me in trouble one day? What exactly killed the cat?
Ash Wednesday - Ashes mixed with oil are placed by the pastor in the sign of the cross on your forehead to signify inner repentance. There are a couple of different things they say as they do this. Depends on the individual church/denomination. The ashes are from the palm fronds from the previous years Palm Sunday.
Ash Wednesday is believed to be representative of throwing ashes over your head or dusting yourself for repentance or a sign of mourning, to express sorrow for sin and fault as done in the Old Testament. Ezekial 9:3 "Then the LORD called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side 4 and said to him, "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it." 5 As I listened, he said to the others, "Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. 6 Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary." Wonder if this is where marking the forehead comes from? Another belief is it is a reminder that we came from dust and we will return to dust. Ash Wednesday is just the beginning of the season of Lent.
Lent - definitions: anglo-saxon word lenctentid = lengthening and flower, Latin quadragesima = 40. A period of penance, reflection and preparation for Easter. for celebrating Christ's resurrection. It is believed to be fashioned after Jesus' 40 days of fasting and temptation in the desert. Although the Bible does not mention the custom of Lent, the practice of repentance and mourning in ashes is found in 2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1; Job 2:8; Daniel 9:3; and Matthew 11:21. Luther encouraged that the observance of Lent continue to because it reminded Christians of the suffering and death of Jesus.
Why the self denial? Does giving up a certain food or facebook or something else of the like really draw us closer to Christ? Shouldn't it be something that genuinely causes us to focus more on Christ? Brings us closer to him? If giving up facebook and using the time to study the bible is what you do, then that is better than replacing it with something as equally time sucking like spider solitaire or mario*kart. What should we do? christ tells us in Luke 9:23 "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."
Not sure if this is clearer...and I just googled it and read many, many sources. When having to write papers, I hated citations. So...none here. :-) I did a lot of reading and combined what I learned.
Ash Wednesday - Ashes mixed with oil are placed by the pastor in the sign of the cross on your forehead to signify inner repentance. There are a couple of different things they say as they do this. Depends on the individual church/denomination. The ashes are from the palm fronds from the previous years Palm Sunday.
Ash Wednesday is believed to be representative of throwing ashes over your head or dusting yourself for repentance or a sign of mourning, to express sorrow for sin and fault as done in the Old Testament. Ezekial 9:3 "Then the LORD called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side 4 and said to him, "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it." 5 As I listened, he said to the others, "Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. 6 Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary." Wonder if this is where marking the forehead comes from? Another belief is it is a reminder that we came from dust and we will return to dust. Ash Wednesday is just the beginning of the season of Lent.
Lent - definitions: anglo-saxon word lenctentid = lengthening and flower, Latin quadragesima = 40. A period of penance, reflection and preparation for Easter. for celebrating Christ's resurrection. It is believed to be fashioned after Jesus' 40 days of fasting and temptation in the desert. Although the Bible does not mention the custom of Lent, the practice of repentance and mourning in ashes is found in 2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1; Job 2:8; Daniel 9:3; and Matthew 11:21. Luther encouraged that the observance of Lent continue to because it reminded Christians of the suffering and death of Jesus.
Why the self denial? Does giving up a certain food or facebook or something else of the like really draw us closer to Christ? Shouldn't it be something that genuinely causes us to focus more on Christ? Brings us closer to him? If giving up facebook and using the time to study the bible is what you do, then that is better than replacing it with something as equally time sucking like spider solitaire or mario*kart. What should we do? christ tells us in Luke 9:23 "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."
Not sure if this is clearer...and I just googled it and read many, many sources. When having to write papers, I hated citations. So...none here. :-) I did a lot of reading and combined what I learned.
Labels: ponderings, scripture thoughts
posted by Chris K at
21:44
1 Comments:
The typical words for Ash Wednesday are "Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return." Death is our final destination ... unless we turn to God.
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Speak gently. carefully. thoughtfully. graciously. humbly.
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