Ash Wednesday-Salvation Wednesday

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. Today is Ash Wednesday and also on this line Salvation Wednesday. Today's message will be different, but before I get started, please stop and pray with me for comfort for the Mennonite family who last night had a fire in their home and seven of their 8 children died in the fire. This happened in Blain, Pennsylvania, a small community in Perry County. This area is about 15 miles from our home.

Dear Father in Heaven... We want to thank You for this day and for the blessing of children. Today we come to You saddened from the news of seven children, ages 11 months to 11 years of age. All children of one family dear Lord... Lord, please, please comfort this family and the community around them and also the Mennonite families as they gather in support of the family who lost their children. Praise God we have heaven to look forward to, Lord... Bless them. Please, we ask in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

How does one deal with the loss of a child, let only seven of them at once? Count your blessings, my dear brothers and sisters, and HUG YOUR KIDS AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN.

Remember today is Salvation Wednesday on this line, so please pray hard for the lost and for we who are saved to help bring them to Jesus.

Ash Wednesday: Brothers and sisters, growing up as a child I did not hear much about Ash Wednesday other than it was the start of the Lenten season, and jokingly when asked by my Catholic buddies what I was giving up for lent, I would say... "Church". Back in 1979 when I first came to the Lord, I was waiting on a customer at the gas pumps (full service) and when cleaning the windshield I noticed the lady had black on her forehead. I was not thinking about Ash Wednesday when I informed her she had something on her forehead... I was trying to be nice as I knew the lady and knew she was off to work. She then told me about Ash Wednesday and she just came from church. I wanted to hide under her car.

While not knowing much about this subject and knowing we have many, many Catholics on this line, I write about Jesus and not denominations, I asked a dear friend, Sharon Ogden, who is Catholic if she would help me talk about it. What she did was pulled from a Catholic Website the following information. I think it is important to understand other religions who are Christian and working for the same goal, getting to Heaven. Thank you, Sharon, for your help, I love you, Dan.

Here starts the information I received from Sharon.

"Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption."

Why we receive the ashes
"Remember, Man is dust, and unto dust you shall return."

"Ashes are a symbol of penance made sacramental by the blessing of the Church, and they help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice.

The distribution of ashes comes from a ceremony of ages past. Christians who had committed grave faults performed public penance. On Ash Wednesday, the Bishop blessed the hair shirts which they were to wear during the forty days of penance, and sprinkled over them ashes made from the palms from the previous year. Then, while the faithful recited the Seven Penitential Psalms, the penitents were turned out of the church because of their sins -- just as Adam, the first man, was turned out of Paradise because of his disobedience. The penitents did not enter the church again until Maundy Thursday after having won reconciliation by the toil of forty days' penance and sacramental absolution. Later, all Christians, whether public or secret penitents, came to receive ashes out of devotion. In earlier times, the distribution of ashes was followed by a penitential procession."



The Ashes
"The ashes are made from the blessed palms used in the Palm Sunday celebration of the previous year. The ashes are christened with Holy Water and are scented by exposure to incense. While the ashes symbolize penance and contrition, they are also a reminder that God is gracious and merciful to those who call on Him with repentant hearts. His Divine mercy is of utmost importance during the season of Lent, and the Church calls on us to seek that mercy during the entire Lenten season with reflection, prayer and penance."

That ends the information sent to me.

Now go forth and share your blessings, I will catch up with prayer requests tomorrow.

Love ya, Pastor Dan.