REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE DUST,
AND TO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN”

On Ash Wednesday when ashes are placed on our forehead, we might hear either “Remember” that you are dust and to dust you shall return or “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”

You are dust and to dust you shall return reminds me everything I have I owe to God, I am nothing without God, my life and its gifts are all due to God’s generosity.

You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Psalm 23:5

“Repent and believe in the Gospel” Mark 1:15 means that I must give up many of my self-serving ways to follow and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not my will be done but thy will!

Acknowledging God’s existence is sometimes hard because we have to accept the consequences of believing in a God who loved us into existence. He made us with a purpose. The full revelation of the Father is Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of the Father, the Word Incarnate.

Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Mark 16:24

What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct. Matthew 16:24-27

God calls us out into the desert of Lent like Moses to test us to see where our hearts are.

“You shall remember the way which the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart. Deut. 8:2

God speaks to us in the silence of our hearts. But our world is afraid of silence and full of noise and spectacle. Lent is a time to return to God from the snares of this world. Lent offers more time each day for quiet. In solitude we will hear God’s whisper as Elijah did….

The LORD said: Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD—but the LORD was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake—but the LORD was not in the earthquake; after the earthquake, fire—but the LORD was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound. 1 Kings 19:12

Make space for God in your interior life; talk to him and tell him you love him. Take more time for quiet prayer each day.

Behold, now is a very acceptable time; 2 Corinthians 6:2
PRAYER

May the Holy Spirit lead us on a true journey of conversion, Almighty and ever living God,
give us hearts hungry to serve you and those who need what we have to give. Let us pray for one another that, by sharing in victory of Christ, we will share in the full joy of Easter.

ALLELUIA, HE IS RISEN!