Ash Wednesday: A reminder that we are dust and unto dust we shall return
FATHER LUKE FONG explains the significance of the ritual
The placing of ashes makes it clear that every person in the Church is constantly in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness.
There are many rituals in the Catholic Church which may seem strange or even bizarre to the uninitiated. Looking from the outside, some of these rituals can perhaps come off looking a tad peculiar and almost anomalous to anything that proclaims to be rational and sound.
One of these may be the imposition of ashes on our foreheads once a year, when the liturgical season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.