Dust and Ashes

Dear friends,

“Dust you are, and to dust you shall return. Turn away from your sin, and be faithful to Christ.”  These are the words spoken at the imposition of a cross of ash on the forehead of the penitent at the start of Lent. The ash is normally sourced from the Palm Crosses of the previous year’s Holy Week, a poignant reminder that even our greatest glories will, with time, crumble and fade. (The crosses are used on Palm Sunday to remember Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, only for the crowd to turn on him and demand his death within a few short days.) We are marked with “the dust of death” to remind us both of our mortality and of our transgressions. Our pride gets in the way of our communion, both with Christ, and with each other. The ash, like some hideous make-up, conceals the mark of our baptism, masking the goodness that God has both created in us, and that which he still yet sees. For continuous through both markings (like the writing in a stick of rock) is the sign of the cross – the cross of baptism, and the cross of ash. This is good news, because it means that both our glory (our being part of God’s creation), and our shame (our pride) are held by and within the cross of Christ. Our creation, fall, and redemption are bound in this one mystery, where our Creator becomes our saviour.

Worship Services for Sunday 2nd March 2025

9.30am Family Service at St John’s, Stoke Row with Mr Peter Ferguson

11am Morning Prayer at St Peter and Paul, Checkendon with Mr Brian Turner

Midweek zoom service: Wednesday Evensong at 5.00pm  410 935 129

Ash Wednesday Team Service, Wednesday 5th March 2025

7.30pm St Leonard’s Woodcote.

Trade Secrets

Behind the highly symbolic act of sharing in the imposition of ash at the start of Lent, the production of ash for the Ash Wednesday service can be fraught, from a clerical point of view. How does one burn last year’s palm crosses? How many are needed? How can the black and smouldering remains be reduced to a fine powder? Importantly, how is this powder to be made into something that will stick to skin? Because, by itself, it doesn’t. Does one add water? How much, if so? And what can you store the result in? A frantic search round clergy retailers reveals that FA Dumont will sell you an “ash pyx” (pyx = small pot, like a round snuff box) and, joy of joys, you can get some ash from them, too. Although, clergy who have the “bonfire” gene can always be relied upon to have a go at DIY at this time of the Christian Year. The discerning parishioner, will, therefore, always ask at the Ash Wednesday service “is your ash homemade?”

Lent offers us all a chance to refresh our inner perspectives, to bring healing and hope, and to perhaps clear a little clutter from our inner path. The 16th Century Shinto shrine at Itsukushima, in southern Japan does this symbolically, twice daily, as its main gateway is flooded by the tide, leaving the Tori structure stranded, but by so doing creating both an invitation, and a challenge, which encapsulates the spirit of Lent to perfection. The picture below comes to us courtesy of Tim (Davies) who is shortly to return to us from work and travel in the far East. Do ponder on it this splendid image, for a while. What does it say to you? Perhaps put yourself in the shoes of the person at the bottom right……

with every blessing, Canon Kevin Davies.