Ash Wednesday February 18
“Return to the Lord”
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten journey—a season of honesty, humility, and hope. We come today marked with ashes, an ancient sign that speaks a hard but holy truth: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” These words do not shame us; they ground us. They remind us of our limits, our mortality, and our deep need for God.
The ashes we receive are not a sign of defeat, but of invitation. They call us to pause, to turn, to repent. The prophet Joel urges us, “Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.” Lent begins not with condemnation, but with God’s open arms.
Ash Wednesday also invites us to release our illusions of self-sufficiency. We confess that we are not in control, that we cannot save ourselves, and that we need grace as much today as we ever have. The ashes on our foreheads are a public acknowledgment of an inward truth: apart from God, we are fragile and incomplete.
Yet even here, hope is present. The ashes come from the palms of last year’s celebration—branches once waved in joy, now reduced to dust. They remind us that human praise fades, but God’s mercy endures. From these ashes, God begins a work of renewal. What seems like an ending is, in Christ, a beginning.
As Lent unfolds, we are invited to walk the path of repentance with honesty and trust—to pray more deeply, to fast more intentionally, to give more generously. These practices are not meant to earn God’s favor, but to open our hearts to receive it more fully.
Today, as the ashes are placed upon you, hear both the truth of your humanity and the promise of God’s grace. You are dust—and you are deeply loved. Return to the Lord, and begin again.
Prayer
Merciful God,
As we receive the ashes, we confess our frailty and our sin.
Create in us clean hearts, and renew a right spirit within us.
Teach us to walk this Lenten journey with humility and hope,
trusting not in ourselves, but in Your unfailing mercy.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.