The Lessons Of Ash Wednesday

PRINCE MACDONALD ENWERE

Today is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the penitential Lenten season in the Christian liturgical calendar. Ash Wednesday is an annual Christian ritual, which ushers Christians into the spiritual journey of repentance marked by prayers, penance, alms giving and other forms of spiritual rectitude. 

It is also a solemn reminder of human mortality and the need for due reconciliation with God in order to participate more intimately in the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ, in preparation for the celebration of the solemn feast of his resurrection.  

Today, Christians receive the imposition of ashes on their foreheads, which signifies the moral nature of the flesh and the immoral nature of the soul, it should be a period of sober reflection and total reexamination of their spiritual livesjust like Socrates reminded us that an unexamined life is not worth living. 
The imposition of ashes today on the forehead will be of no significant value without inner repentance and change of behaviour which conforms with the lessons of Ash Wednesday. Imposition of ashes on the forehead should be the penitent way of expressing sorrow for sin and readiness for a new beginning and abstinence from iniquities.

The feast of Ash Wednesday provides Christians another golden opportunity for total repentance and spiritual renewal within the framework of confession and absolution. It is also another opportunity for us to bow our heads in humility and acknowledge the profound truth of our existence as Christians by realizing that we are dust and to dust we shall return. 

Christians should live this period as a pilgrimage of repentance, conversion and spiritual renewal. It is important also for Christians to utilize this opportunity not only to pray for peace and unity of mankind and God’s intervention in the enormous challenges facing the Nigerian society but to ensure unity of purpose within the Christian fold as this will go along way in propagating and harmonizing the virtues of the faith and the paramount lessons of the feast of Ash Wednesday. This is the time for Christians to reflect and rededicate themselves to the ideals of human existence which Christ exemplified on Earth during his earthly ministry and also allow the virtues of love, humility, selflessness, piety, fairness and sacrifice to manifest in their daily lives.

Indeed, the adherence to the import and lessons of the Ash Wednesday will unlock bountiful potentials for spiritual rejuvenation and purification, engender reunion between man and God as well as reconciliation with fellow men. 
As we mark this year’s Ash Wednesday, we must realize that we have a date with history by praying for purification, spiritual rebirth and rejuvenation.