Ash Wednesday 2021

Greetings to all, on this Ash Wednesday, let us thank God for bringing us safely to the middle of this week, and let us ask Him to prepare our hearts for spiritual growth and repentance during this season of Lent! Amen

Death is a natural process of the cycle of life, yet COVID has caused so many more deaths than we could have imagined. Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us that there is a time for everything and a season for everything under the heavens.

Today marks the beginning of the Lent season, a season of forty days before Easter (excluding Sundays). During this time of self-examination and repentance, we also reflect on our mortality and the fact we are dust, and God still loves us despite our uncleanliness.

Genesis 2:7 (NCV)

7 Then the LORD God took dust from the ground and formed a man from it. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nose, and the man became a living person.

Genesis 3:19 (NCV)

19 You will sweat and work hard for your food. Later you will return to the ground because you were taken from it. You are dust, and when you die, you will return to the dust. "

While most Catholic faiths acknowledge this day by marking a cross on the forehead with ashes, some protestant denominations practice the season of Lent by either giving up something that ties us to this world or we take on a spiritual endeavor or self-discipline.

Ezekiel 9:4 (NCV)

4 He said to the man, "Go through Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the people who groan and cry about all the hateful things being done among them. "

Lesson: It is our human nature to try to hide our sins and to overlook our mistakes. During this Lent season, let us realize our human frailty, admit our wrongdoing, and confess them, making this a season of redemption and a new life for each of our lives.