In just a few minutes, you are going to come forward to be marked with the sign of the cross – a sign that we accept what Jesus did for us on the cross, and that we are members of his body here on earth. The ashes are what is left over after fire passes over or through something – they are dead and lifeless – not much different from the dust of the earth. But we also remember that God formed us out of the duet of the earth and it is God who breathed life into that dust to create humankind. Without that breath of God, we are nothing – we do not exist.
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And so the ashes are placed on your forehead in the form of a cross – the cross that is the life giving symbol of God’s love for us. The downstroke of the cross is an “I” representing me – all that is uniquely me – all my strengths and weaknesses – my talents and my sin. It is all that I am and all that I stand for.
Then the cross bar is placed over it to remind us of Jesus with his outstretched arms. It crosses out “me” and places Jesus between me and God’s punishment. This is a sign of our repentance; a sign that we are forgiven and marked as Christ’s own. We each walk out of here bearing the cross of Jesus – the sign that we are his forever
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