Preparation for Ash Wednesday

The ashes of Ash Wednesday serve as a reminder of the frailty of the human condition; that because of sin we shall return to the dust from which we were made. Yet our Lenten journey is not to our grave, it is to Christ's cross...a cross bore out of love for mankind...We await with patient hope that Easter Sunday, when Christ will overcome the pains of death; that all who call upon His name shall not be doomed to the eternal chains of death, but shall arise, as He has arisen...with new life, heavenly bodies, pure, and whole. We know the promise of future Easter joy, but for now, for this journey, we remember that we are: but dust of the earth; confessing to God our need for a Savior!