“Yet as we heard in the Gospel,” the Pope noted, “Jesus warns us that rather than mere external rites, these must be actions expressing the renewal of our hearts.”Īll too often, he warned, “our gestures and rites have no impact on our lives, but remain superficial.” But he said, if we remain humbly in the sight of God, our “almsgiving, prayer, and fasting will not simply remain outward displays, but will express what we truly are: children of God, and brothers and sisters to one another.” By dropping every presumption of self-sufficiency, and all forms of idolatry of self, we can begin to learn that “life is a relationship we receive from God and our parents,” and that we can always revive and renew our relationships “thanks to the Lord and those he puts at our side.”įinally, in order to make this journey, Pope Francis reminds the faithful of the three great paths of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, that are traditionally encouraged during Lent. The Pope then turned to a second step in the journey back to God: returning to God and to our brothers and sisters. The ashes, he said, remind us of who we are, recalling the “essential truth of our lives: that the Lord alone is God and we are the work of His hands.” Lent, then, becomes a time to remember that we rely on God, and at the same time “to drop the pretense of being self-sufficient.” The Holy Father explained that the imposition of ashes is an exhortation both to return to the truth about ourselves, and to return to God and to our brothers and sisters. The rite of the imposition of ashes on the foreheads of the faithful – which takes place during the liturgy at the beginning of Lent – marks the beginning of our “return journey” to God, Pope Francis said during his homily for the Mass of Ash Wednesday. The circular also encouraged everyone to help the poor through Alay Kapwa fund-raising program and FAST2FEED or Hapag-Asa feeding program to poor and malnourished children nationwide. We receive the ashes because the call to repentance is addressed to us by Christ through the Church and it is also through the ministry of the Church that we are reconciled with God and each other,” it added. Let us discourage self-imposition of ashes. “Priests and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion may visit the sick and the elderly for the imposition of ashes. The ALC reiterated the importance of the imposition of ashes which is “always done in the context of a liturgical celebration” and “derives its meaning from the proclamation of the Word and prayers.” in a circular issued to the clergy on February 14.

This, along with other important reminders, regarding the celebration were conveyed by the Archdiocesan Liturgical Commission (ALC), through Vice Chancellor Rev. The Archdiocese of Manila had reverted the imposition of ashes on the faithful’s forehead for this year’s celebration of Ash Wednesday.

Self imposition of ashes