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Tag Archives: Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday: grace is not in vain
Lent is a good discipline for me. The soul-searching, the self-denial, the study of God’s grace is something that I need constantly if I am to recognize the enormity, the ridiculous span and spread of God’s mercy.
But constantly is hard to do. Continue reading
Posted in Holy Days, homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10, Ash Wednesday, church calendar, confession, fast, grace, Lent, reconciliation
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Dust
Between fire and the sky- cold stars trading embers, we are smoke: dust, ash, and air rising and falling
Posted in Holy Days, poetry, prayer
Tagged Ash Wednesday, ashes to ashes, creation, dust to dust, fire
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Remembrance, repentance, and reconciliation
In Lent, we bury [the word of ululating praise] beneath our tongues, yet even in dust and ashes it is our song, tuning in to Christ’s love, our hope, the truth of God’s undying mercy. Continue reading
Hope in the ashes
There is hope in cold ashes. We do not “do” Lent, we do not approach the fast as those who have no hope, or as though who fear the fire. For God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and … Continue reading
Posted in Holy Days, Uncategorized
Tagged Ash Wednesday, ashes, daffodils, Incarnation, Lent, William Wordsworth
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Penitence
After William Wordsworth’s “Preface to Lyrical Ballads,” 1800 Recollected in tranquillity, passions burnt beyond their embers. Unguarded breath conjures dust devils, smoke without fire, echoes of disgrace remembered by the ashen light of dawn. Dignified in variegated gray, sifted, judiciously, … Continue reading
Posted in Holy Days, poetry, prayer
Tagged "recollected in tranquillity", Ash Wednesday, Lent, penitence, sin, Wordsworth
2 Comments
Ashes and coaldust
Of all the symbols that we use in the Christian year, the ashes of Ash Wednesday might be at once the most unambiguous and the most strange. A wise colleague was recently heard to remark on the popularity of “ashes-to-go” … Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged absolution, Ash Wednesday, ashes to go, childhood, Christmas, forgiveness, God, penitnence
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Ash Wednesday
There is, on occasion, a disconnect between our words and our actions. We smile through gritted teeth as we make polite conversation with someone we do not like. We have profound and prolonged conversations about liberty and justice as we … Continue reading
Posted in homily, sermon
Tagged 12-17, 16-21, 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10, Ash Wednesday, fast, hope, hypocrisy, Isaiah 58:1-12, Jesus, Joel 2:1-2, Matthew 6:1-6, Psalm 51
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Burning
I’m sitting up tending a pot of palms as they slowly disintegrate into ash. Under the surface red and orange molten lava moves, shifting and sifting through the burnt and unburnt bits and branches, preparing their repentance for their part … Continue reading
Posted in other words
Tagged Ash Wednesday, Lent, liturgy, making ashes from palms, Palm Sunday, the Passion
1 Comment
Juxtapositions
Last Wednesday, I told a score of people or more that they were going to die. “You are dust,” I reminded them, “and to dust you will return.” And I marked their faces with ash. In the line was my youngest … Continue reading
Fasting = Feasting on Life
Last night, as we finished serving the people, I looked into the chalice and made a quick decision: contrary to our usual practice, the remaining consecrated wine would be sent to the sacristy to be consumed or reverently disposed of … Continue reading
Posted in meditation, other words
Tagged Ash Wednesday, bread, Eucharist, fasting, life, mortality, wine
2 Comments
