These are the words we heard last Wednesday, March 5, when we attended our Ash Wednesday services. No matter whether you attended a full mass or service that day, the whole Catholic Church heard these words as the Sign of the Cross was marked on our foreheads with the ashes burned from the previous year's Palm Sunday palms. This sign is not mystical or magical in any way and should not be thought of as a talisman or amulet against evil. This Sign of the Cross marked with ashes is to serve as a reminder for all Catholics to "return to the source" and reevaluate our lives. This "source" is the Most High God, and He is asking us through these ashes to step away from ourselves as hard as it may seem. He asks for us to step away from the busy routine of daily life. He asks us to stop for a moment, and to remember who we are, what we stand for, and what our goals and priorities are. No matter how virtuous and perfect we may seem, there is always something we can improve on, even if just by a little. Even if our Lenten sacrifice is not a sacrifice at all, but instead an extra action or effort we make each day in this forty-day duration. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are the three things we try to focus on. Though this is the case, these three things should never make us forget what the true reason of these things are: to grow closer to our Lord, Jesus Christ, who by His Sacred Paschal Mystery saved us from our sins. May the Peace of Christ come down upon us all, that we can better learn to use our lives as testimonies to His Good News.
