“REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE DUST AND UNTO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN.”
Ash Wednesday also launches what the Church refers to as the “discipline” of Lent - a time of self-examination, some sort of self-sacrifice and (for Catholics) the abstinence from meat on a weekly basis. While I love the symbolism of Ash Wednesday, I’ve never really liked Lent…which is precisely the point of these forty days. Robinson puts it this way:
Lent really invite(s) us to become fluent in the language of confession of our own sin and shortcomings, to practice self-examination.
In a world where the Left and the Right shout at each other, where the bad boy behavior of Hollywood Celebrities gets prime time media treatment and where the only popular form of self-examination includes a therapist, the “discipline” of Lent is a bit of a downer. And…we mark its beginning by smearing ashes on our forehead! No wonder Robinson calls it “odd.”
Its “oddness” is also its distinctive strength. After receiving ashes at our School Liturgy on March 9th, I attended the weekly meeting of the Pasadena Rotary Club. One of the members, not knowing anything about Ash Wednesday, asked me why there was a “smudge” on my forehead. Ever the “Marketer-in-Chief”, I was happy to explain its significance. As I was speaking, it occurred to me that the ashes were a form of branding (literally and figuratively). The School’s Marketing Committee has spent the better part of 18 months clarifying the La Salle “Brand”, so I was particularly attuned to this dynamic. It also helped me to realize why I like the ritual of Ash Wednesday. Once a year it “marks” me as member of a group that promotes a set of values I hold dear and to which I’ve oriented my personal and professional life.
A long time ago I gave up on the notion that the world would universally share those values; but, at least once a year, I am reminded of the power and the promise of those values - especially for the children entrusted to our care. Given the fact that Lent is not my favorite part of the liturgical year, I am relieved that it will be another 35 years before Easter arrives as late as it will in 2011. I take comfort in that knowledge because -as any Catholic school teacher will tell you - it’s very important for schools to have as much time as possible between the Easter Break and Graduation. For La Salle, this Easter means we will have slightly more than three weeks to ramp up for graduation-related events. Not only does that make Lent feel excessively long, but it also imposes an entirely different “discipline” on the School’s end-of-year preparations.
Ash Wednesday may be “odd” but it is also a magnificent moment in time to take stock of our lives and to challenge our unexamened assumptions about what is truly important.
