Why should we receive ashes on Ash Wednesday?

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WesleyF

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“But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:17-18)

It seems that by with ashes on our forehead on Ash Wednesday, we are allowing our fasting to be seen by men.

Thoughts?
 
WesleyF said:
“But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:17-18)

It seems that by with ashes on our forehead on Ash Wednesday, we are allowing our fasting to be seen by men.

Thoughts?
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The ashes are to remind us that "we are dust, and unto dust we shall return. . ’

They aren’t about ‘showing others our fasting’. Heck, not even every Catholic knows we should fast AND abstain on Ash Wednesday (and Good Friday).

So it’s not a problem.
 
WesleyF said:
“But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:17-18)

It seems that by with ashes on our forehead on Ash Wednesday, we are allowing our fasting to be seen by men.

Thoughts?
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The ashes have nothing to do with fasting. As the other poster has excellently given the right perspective it has to do with out limited time here on earth. We are to return back to the earth so we need to be reminded to focus on things eternal.
 
can you tell how much I’ve eaten based on the fact that there are ashes on my forehead?
 
Then I looked and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. (Revelation 14:1)

Nothing accursed will be found there anymore. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will look upon his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun, for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. (Revelation 22:3-4)

-Tim-
 
IIRC
It started from the days before the sacrament of confession was more widely available. Back then penances lasted years during which you would not be admitted to communion. it was customary to place ashes on the foreheads of those who were still performing their prescribed penance, and therefore could not receive. It is an act of public humiliation, declaring oneself a sinner, to put ashes on ones forehead.
 
As has been said, the ashes symbolize that we are dust, and so shall we return. Some who receive the ashes do not fast (such as myself, as I am not obligated to; other than to abstain from meat) for a variety of reasons.

I’ve always interpreted the verse (Matthew 6:17-18, as well as the verses before it) to be Jesus discouraging fasting with the only intention for fasting is being lauded (“You are such a brave soul for fasting!”, etc.). Perhaps I’m wrong, however.
 
Immacolata said:
As has been said, the ashes symbolize that we are dust, and so shall we return. Some who receive the ashes do not fast (such as myself, as I am not obligated to; other than to abstain from meat) for a variety of reasons.

I’ve always interpreted the verse (Matthew 6:17-18, as well as the verses before it) to be Jesus discouraging fasting with the only intention for fasting is being lauded (“You are such a brave soul for fasting!”, etc.). Perhaps I’m wrong, however.
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You’re right.🙂
 
TimothyH said:
Then I looked and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. (Revelation 14:1)

Nothing accursed will be found there anymore. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will look upon his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun, for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. (Revelation 22:3-4)

-Tim-
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God’s name is not written on our heads on Ash Wednesday. Besides, this describes heaven and not earth.
 
WesleyF said:
No, but I can probably tell you are fasting.
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Again, beware of cherry picking. The Scripture passage referred not to a person getting a dusty face to prove he was fasting.

The person referred to by Jesus was the kind of ‘holier than thou’ person who showed he was fasting not by ashes, but by letting himself look haggard, so ‘zealous’ to fast that he was too WEAK to wash and comb his hair.

There are many Scripture passages morever (see Jonah) where the people put on sackcloth and ashes to show their REPENTENCE to God. And that was so pleasing to God that he spared the city of Ninevah.

Imagine, all those people wandering around the city with ashes on their foreheads. . .and so God spared them for they acknowledged their sin.

And while they did that, they were also fasting. 😃
 
Jonah, chapter 3
1] And the word of the Lord came to Jonas the second time, saying: [2] Arise, and go to Ninive the great city: and preach in it the preaching that I bid thee. [3] And Jonas arose, and went to Ninive, according to the word of the Lord: now Ninive was a great city of three days’ journey. [4] And Jonas began to enter into the city one day’s journey: and he cried, and said: Yet forty days, and Ninive shall be destroyed. [5] And the men of Ninive believed in God: and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least.

[3] Of three days’ journey: By the computation of some ancient historians, Ninive was about fifty miles round: so that to go through all the chief streets and public places was three days’ journey. [6] And the word came to the king of Ninive; and he rose up out of his throne, and cast away his robe from him, and was clothed with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. [7] And he caused it to be proclaimed and published in Ninive from the mouth of the king and of his princes, saying: Let neither men nor beasts, oxen nor sheep, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water. [8] And let men and beasts be covered with sackcloth, and cry to the Lord with all their strength, and let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the iniquity that is in their hands. [9] Who can tell if God will turn, and forgive: and will turn away from his fierce anger, and we shall not perish? [10] And God saw their works, that they were turned from their evil way: and God had mercy with regard to the evil which he had said that he would do to them, and he did it not.
 
Tantum_ergo said:
Again, beware of cherry picking. The Scripture passage referred not to a person getting a dusty face to prove he was fasting.

The person referred to by Jesus was the kind of ‘holier than thou’ person who showed he was fasting not by ashes, but by letting himself look haggard, so ‘zealous’ to fast that he was too WEAK to wash and comb his hair.
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But scripture is saying we ought to wash our face and anoint our head; in other words, give no outward indication that we are fasting. That’s what Jesus said.
Tantum_ergo said:
There are many Scripture passages morever (see Jonah) where the people put on sackcloth and ashes to show their REPENTENCE to God. And that was so pleasing to God that he spared the city of Ninevah.

Imagine, all those people wandering around the city with ashes on their foreheads. . .and so God spared them for they acknowledged their sin.

And while they did that, they were also fasting. 😃
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Yes, they were, but that doesn’t change the fact that Jesus doesn’t want us to do it that way.
 
WesleyF said:
But scripture is saying we ought to wash our face and anoint our head; in other words, give no outward indication that we are fasting. That’s what Jesus said.

Yes, they were, but that doesn’t change the fact that Jesus doesn’t want us to do it that way.
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SAYS WHO?

We keep telling you, ashes are NOT an indication we are fasting.

We don’t put on ashes to say "We’re fasting’.

Why don’t you talk to your priest about this since you don’t really seem to accept Scriptural precedent that repentence with ashes is legitimate and doesn’t contradict Jesus?
 
WesleyF said:
No, but I can probably tell you are fasting.
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How? :confused: Do I look thinner? That can hardly be helped. It’s a lot different from intentionally appearing gloomy and complaining about how hungry I am to earn the respect of others.

I don’t get why so many people read the Bible and then are so quick to try and disillusion themselves from what the Catholic Church teaches/practices. You don’t think Catholics read the Bible and contemplate/discuss these things all day, every day, with the aid of the traditions of the Church Fathers and Magisterium?
 
WesleyF said:
… scripture is saying we ought to wash our face and anoint our head; in other words, give no outward indication that we are fasting. That’s what Jesus said.
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But the fact that an observant Catholic is fasting on Ash Wednesday and the ashes on the head are not necessarily linked. I know many observant Catholics who find it difficult to get to Mass on Ash Wednesday–it’s not a Holy Day of Obligation. So they fast without getting ashes.

The ashes are not a sign of fasting. The blessing over the ashes speaks of them being “put on our heads in penitence” and the words spoken when they are applied, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”, or “Repent, and believe the Gospel,” have no mention of fasting. They are a sign of repentance, of our commitment to Lent and it’s reconciliation to God, not fasting.
 
bmonk said:
But the fact that an observant Catholic is fasting on Ash Wednesday and the ashes on the head are not necessarily linked. I know many observant Catholics who find it difficult to get to Mass on Ash Wednesday–it’s not a Holy Day of Obligation. So they fast without getting ashes.

The ashes are not a sign of fasting. The blessing over the ashes speaks of them being “put on our heads in penitence” and the words spoken when they are applied, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”, or “Repent, and believe the Gospel,” have no mention of fasting. They are a sign of repentance, of our commitment to Lent and it’s reconciliation to God, not fasting.
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Hmmm, it took me a while to get this. It just so happens that Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting but the ashes are not a sign of fasting.
 
WesleyF said:
Hmmm, it took me a while to get this. It just so happens that Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting but the ashes are not a sign of fasting.
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👍 Exactly. The ashes are a sign of our dedication to the season of Lent, and to penitence and return to God.
 
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