Remember man that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.
Blogged by James Preece on 17th February 2010
Pope John Paul II, Ash Wednesday 1996...
Why does the Church place ashes on our foreheads today? Why does she remind us of death? Death which is the effect of sin! Why?
To prepare us for Christ's Passover. For the paschal mystery of the Redeemer of the world.
Paschal mystery means what we profess in the Creed: "On the third day he rose again"!
Yes. Today we need to hear the "you are dust and to dust you will return" of Ash Wednesday, so that the definitive truth of the Gospel, the truth about the Resurrection, will unfold before us: believe in the Gospel.
On the threshold of Lent, it is necessary that this perspective be opened before us, so that we may believe deeply in the Gospel with all the truth of our mortal existence.
We are called to take part in the Resurrection of Christ. For this appeal to resound within us with all its force at the beginning of the Lenten season, let us realize what death means... "You are dust" ... "Repent! ... Believe in the Gospel"!
[link]
