When I was an undergraduate, I was astounded to see how many of my Jewish friends regularly attended the Ash Wednesday service at the campus Newman Center (the Roman Catholic mission on campus) and dutifully had their foreheads daubed with ash. When I asked one of them about this he responded “I just like the ritualâ€.
Here’s a rundown on the source and meaning of the ritual. It’s been an official part of Roman Catholic Lenten observances at least since the 8th century CE. The palms used on Palm Sunday are burned and the ashes saved and used to mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross.
Some people wear their ashes all day but I’ve always washed mine off as soon as I left the church cf. Matthew 6:16
16“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Yeah, I always washed them off as well. I think some people leave them on because they sort of like to see how many other Catholics are floating around.
Maybe the problem is on my end, Dave, but the run-down link isn’t working. No problem for me personally, because my click was a reflexive one as opposed to seeking the information itself. (I’m keyboarding ashes still on forehead, having gone to the evening service–because my kid was in school during both of the two earlier ones at our Episcopal church–and returning directly home.)
As for the hook of your post: I remember having the same reaction back in 1978/79 and gong forward a few years. That “from-dust-to-dust ‘thing’ ” sure can, and does, resonate–being, as it is, one of the more inclusive and “buck-stops-here” concepts not just in terms of religion, but, well, life [itself].
Yes: I should have said ONE of the hooks of your post. But I think I acknowledged the other, as well, by implication.