So what does all this information to do with today, Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. The obvious association of the ashes is with death. The words said at the Imposition of Ashes, “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” is a timely reminder of our mortality and for the need for amendment of life and a reordering of our priorities that goes with that reminder. There is nothing unhealthy in this. We are not being unnecessarily morbid but simply realistic. We were all born and we shall all die. The psalmist reminds us again and again of the wisdom of acknowledging that reality. So in the prayers and readings for today and in the coming days there is plenty to remind us of the need to amend our lives, to be honest about our sinfulness and by confessing our sins seek forgiveness and reconciliation and the spiritual growth that that brings.

But the ashes are not simply a negative sign. They are not only about death, our death. From my earlier illustration there is more to ashes than that. Not only are they a sign of death and destruction but they can paradoxically be a sign of the beginning of new life. So bushfires can certainly be destructive. But they can also be the agent to produce new life to certain plants as well as a source of food for birds. But even more widely than that I always remember when I was a young boy our church burnt down due to an electrical fault. It seemed like a death with our beloved church being left a burnt out shell. However within 2 years we had a new dynamic priest who not only rebuilt the old church but challenged the parish to build a much dreamed about church more suitable for the growing neighborhood. The earlier fire began to be seen as the catalyst for the regeneration and revival of that parish.

So these ashes today are both a sign of death but also a sign that somehow through death new life can come. In fact these ashes point towards the whole paradox at the heart of Christian Faith which is central to our Holy Week commemoration: that it is only through the Passion and Death of Jesus that Resurrection is possible. Today as we receive the sign of ashes we are anticipating the Paschal Mystery, that as we “die with Christ” so we shall “live in him”. Paul in tonight's second reading picks up this paradoxical motif: “We are treated as impostors and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying and see-we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”

From Ash Wednesday onwards Lent is anticipating and preparing for Holy Week and Easter when we celebrate the great paradox at the heart of our faith. May your Lent be a time of spiritual reflection, preparation and growth.  Amen

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