Drive-Thru Repentance

There is a moment in time…every year…the thumb of a priest or deacon are dipped into a small vessel of ashes…the foreheads of millions of people are marked with the Sign of the Cross…the words are spoken, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,"and thus, Lent has begun.

Our local paper ran a short blurb this weekend. It was hidden there amid the other accounts of community activities, events, and announcements. It appeared very whimsical and accommodating:

“Lisa O’Rear-Lassen, the pastor at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, will be offering Ashes2go on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18 in the square from noon to 2 p.m.

O’Rear-Lassen will be standing at the entrance to the public parking lot behind the former Cool Beans building and will be offering to impose ashes on anyone who walks or drives by.

‘I will be in vestments so I will be identifiable,’ she said. ‘All are welcome. I will impose ashes on a drive through basis also. I have done Ashes2go with the community of St. Patrick in Brunswick for the past two years and it has been a blessing to all involved. I’m excited to be offering this in Wadsworth.’ ” ¹

Now, as I said, I’m sure many of their subscribers read this as a nice way for the community to receive their ashes, even if they have such a busy schedule they cannot attend an Ash Wednesday service or Mass. How kind of this woman to bring this to the wider population.

Well, maybe. But, maybe not.

The Life Teen website has the perfect response:

“Ashes are a sign of physical death, as in 'ashes to ashes, dust to dust.' We began as dust (a joyless and lifeless existence), and our bodies will return to dust until we are raised up by Christ. By receiving ashes and keeping them on, we publicly proclaim our intent to die to our worldly desires and live even more in Christ's image, which we focus on during the season of 'rebirth' that is Lent (a Latin term for 'Spring').” ²

If I walk or drive into a parking lot, pausing for mere moments in my busy day, receive a black smudge on my forehead, then proceed to go full force back into my life’s events, am I really taking the time to ponder the meaning of those ashes? Am I truly focusing on the reason for the season of Lent?

Lent is far more than giving up chocolate, the fasting on Fridays, the special events of Holy Week, celebrating Easter, and then returning to our ordinary lives. It is so far beyond this.

Reread the quote above. We remember that we will someday die, our bodies returning to the earth. We proclaim “our intent to die to our worldly desires and live even more in Christ’s image.” We spend the forty days of Lent reflecting on those things which keep us from truly imaging Christ to the world. We set aside time to fast, pray, and repent of all that prevents us from truly living the new life Christ provided in His death and resurrection. It is not a time for short cuts or or detours. The One who died on the Cross took no easy outs. We who have pledged to follow in His footsteps cannot devise easier ways to follow Him. We cannot reinvent the way of the Cross to accommodate our modern lives.

There is a great hope, though, in remembering that those ashes will not remain forever. There is the glory of the washing away of sin (seen figuratively and in reality at the Easter Vigil baptisms), which God promises to do if we humble ourselves, pray, and seek His face.

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

Let us receive the ashes, not only with an “Amen,” but also with a purposeful heart. Let us actively pursue the sanctification which God promises to those who are truly repentant.

¹ http://www.thepostnewspapers.com/wadsworth/columns/up-down-and-all-around-town/article_0332a1d1-a935-5186-9324-c15eb67011de.html

²http://lifeteen.com/why-do-catholics-put-ashes-on-our-heads-on-ash-wednesday/