You've Got Something on Your Forehead...

Ah, Ash Wednesday. The day where everyone asks you "hey, you've got something smuged on your face!" (or they might just stare without asking anything). Also a day when we can easily point out another Catholic in the crowd.



We bear the cross on our foreheads as Lent begins, reminding us that we are but dust. God created us from mere dirt, and we cannot do anything in life without Him. It's a humbling thought, even more humbling when you wear it on your forehead, the ashes, a beautiful symbol and sacramental reminding us of our smallness. The ashes remind me to be little--[oh St. Therese, you are wonderful!] but that's another story.

So yes, we were created of dirt in the ground. We are nothing. You might be asking, well so we're nothing, God doesn't care then, I can go sin or do whatever 'cause I'm dirt. Wrong. God wanted so intently for humankind to exist that He made us, the complex beings we are, out of mere dirt. Sounds like some sort of appearing magic trick, huh? Well, it's God. And this day does remind us that we are small; i.e. we are not God. Letting go of your desires and turning all your actions over to His plan is what it means to be small--trusting Him.

So, we need to be small. This applies to our Lenten traditions, too. Like today's Gospel said, don't go out performing great fasts or long-winded public prayer for the world to see. Rather, do these things hoping that no one else knows but you and God. Kinda tough to do, huh? Sometimes our delicate egos would much rather gather attention, "woe is me, I am so hungry, but I HAVE to fast today, you know the Catholic thing..." or something like that. Be small. Fast and don't let anyone know. Donate to a good cause, but keep your checkbook hidden. Pray your heart out in secret. As the Gospel says, "and your Father who sees in secret will repay you."

Think about what it means to have been so lovingly created by God through the very dust we wear today. Think about all those Lenten sacrifices we make, and pray that one day, your heart will so intensely emulate Christ to the world that it won't take Ash Wednesday for people to notice that you are Catholic.


"If you find that the world hates you, know it has hated me before you. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own; the reason it hates you is that you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world."
~John 15:18-19