MASS TIMES/ASH DISTRIBUTION
7:30AM, 9:30AM, 7:00PM
PRAYER SERVICE/ASH DISTRIBUTION
4:30pm
Why do we have ashes on our foreheads?
Having ashes on your forehead is a tradition that finds its roots in the Old Testament: "I turned to the Lord God to seek help, in parayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes." (Daniel 9:3) When ashes are placed on our foreheads in the sign of the Cross, it is a reminder of several things. First, it is a call to repentence: a physical sign that we are sinners in need of forgiveness, which is how the prophets used it in the Old Testament. Second, it is to remind us that God created us from the earth and when we die, we will return to it. But here's the best part: As Pope Benedict XVI has said, "Man is dust and to dust he shall return; but dust is precious in God's eyes because God created man, destining him to immortality." God so loves us that, even when our bodies return to the dust, our souls are meant to live forever with Him. The ashes suymbolize all of this.
Taken from: www.usccb.org/prayer/and/worship/liturgical/resources/lent/ideas/ for/evangelization/during lent.cfm
