“Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

As Catholics, we hear these words uttered to us once a year when we are being marked with ashes. But what’s the deal with ashes? What does the gray cross (or more likely, blob) even mean?

First off, the ashes we use during Ash Wednesday are made by burning the palms from last year’s Palm Sunday. This helps us remember the events of Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection.

Ashes were first incorporated into Mass during the sixth century, but the use of ashes dates back to the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, they symbolized mourning, mortality and penance, and that meaning has not changed.

Ashes also symbolize a “new beginning,” and we are able to trace this meaning back to many places in the Bible as well. One example of this is when Jesus healed the blind man with clay in John 9:6. Today, our “new beginning” is the start of Lent where we make promises about prayer, fasting and almsgiving with the ultimate goal of allowing the life of Christ to make us whole and new again.

Jesus himself referenced ashes: “If the miracles worked in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have reformed in sackcloth and ashes long ago” (Matthew 11:21). In this, Jesus was referring to the towns which had seen miracles and heard the Good News, yet did not confess their sins.

We as Catholics have heard the Good News and have seen the good that comes from God. Therefore, ashes are a reminder that our earthly life is a finite gift from God, and that as we remember what Christ suffered out of love for us, we should repent for all the sins we’ve committed.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season, but it does much more than that. Ashes mark us as followers of Christ and allow us to publicly proclaim that we are working to die to our worldly desires and live in Christ’s image.

Sources:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.catholicnewsagency.com/amp/news/where-do-ash-wednesday-ashes-come-from-94988

http://catholicstraightanswers.com/what-are-the-origins-of-ash-wednesday-and-the-use-of-ashes/

https://lifeteen.com/blog/why-do-catholics-put-ashes-on-our-heads-on-ash-wednesday/