What Ash Wednesday Is All About

By Stephen Mokoena – The central meaning of Ash Wednesday relates to our humanness, mortality, weakness and fallenness. Ash Wednesday signals the beginning of Lent, a period of reflection and sentience.

What the Ash Cross Means

When the priest or appointed minister signs the cross with ashes on our foreheads, it reminds us of Creation — for dust you are and to dust shall return (Genesis 3:19).

Ash Wednesday is not mentioned in the Bible but the tradition of receiving ashes as a sign of penitence predates Jesus — in the Old Testament, Job repents in the dust and ashes.

At the beginning of our Lent we bear ash on our foreheads to signify that we ought to repent from our sins.

Beginning our Lenten fast

On Ash Wednesday we begin our Lenten fast, a time in which Christians are meant to give up some comfort or adopt some spiritual practice that leads to self-examination, repentance from sins and the renewal of the soul.

As we are about to start the Lenten season, we should remember that it’s 40 days of reflection and discovery, and in this time we join Jesus Christ on his discovery.

Let’s live a simple life by caring, loving, sharing and showing kindness to those who are in need, to do charity work, and to fast especially from the things we the love most — to have a spiritual fast