Today is Ash Wednesday.
Today we remember that we came from dust and to dust we return.
Today we remember that our lives are but a vapor and God is forever.
Today we begin our return; to relationship, to wholeness, to life, to God.
A prayer for Ash Wednesday:
Come back to the Lord with all your heart;
leave the past in ashes,
and turn to God with tears and fasting,
for he is slow to anger and ready to forgive. (Joel 2:13)
Let the priests and ministers of the Lord
lament before his altar, and say:
Spare us, Lord, spare your people!
Do not let us die for we are crying out to you. (Joel 2:17; Est 13:17)–The Sacrementary