Posted on 02/10/2016 7:39:44 AM PST by Salvation
Monsignor Pope Ping!
Is today Ash Wednesday? If so, that would explain all the cars at the local catholic church.
Here’s wishing everyone a blessed Ash Wednesday as we begin the Lenten season.
Thank you Ciexyz.
May the Blessings of this Lenten season be upon you and your family.
Both the 6:45 and the 8:30 masses at my church were full.
I presented the ashes at Mass this morning and it was a bit disturbing to put them on the young children but I knew that they wanted that mark on their foreheads. One mother held up her baby and I did a tiny dot and whispered the words. Everyone was very solemn.
Some feedback on this article by Mr. Pope...
A-Pope writes an article about receiving ashes, but can’t find any instructions or commands in the NT Scriptures to do this.
Unfortunately, Mr. Pope cannot find any instructions or commands in the OT for this ritual either. He does find the word “ashes.”
Because this practice entered after the time of the Apostles, it is likely of pagan origin.
Contrast this with the amazing Gospel of grace that can save anyone from hell and give eternal life.
No ashes needed.
Contrast this with the amazing Gospel of grace that can save anyone from hell and give eternal life.
There is nothing wrong with Ash Wednesday. This is not a sacrament. This is adiaphora: neither commanded nor forbidden in God's Word. Instituted with a good intention, for the sake of good order.
The knee-jerk rejection of anything seemingly Roman Catholic is sometimes quite silly. If a church doesn't want to participate in Ash Wednesday that is fine. If a church wants to participate in Ash Wednesday that is fine as well. Salvation is not tied to observing Ash Wednesday.
You'll find it right next to the command to write snarky posts on Internet message boards.
This flunks every logic test known to man, BTW.
Matthew: 6:16 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
"Instituted with a good intention, for the sake of good order.
"In the pre-Christian Norse religion the laying of ashes was meant to grant the Norse God Odin’s protection using ashes meant to represent Sigurd–the ashes of Sigurd contained the blood of Fafnir and would protect a Viking warrior in battle. When the Vikings raided coastal towns in western and Mediterranean Europe they brought their beliefs and practices with them, included the laying of ashes on a Wednesday–Odin‘s Day–which the Christian Church appropriated. Wednesday continued to be used as the day of the laying of ashes. "http://www.allyngibson.com/?p=969
Contrast that with the heartbeat of Christ - the very salvation of our souls through His Gospel of grace.
“You’ll find it right next to the command to write snarky posts on Internet message boards. “
I notice that while accusing my comment of “snark” you avoided dealing with the origin of Ash Wednesday.
classic liberal dodge....when confronted with the facts, shift the topic to attack the individual.
Have you never read the story of Jonah and his preaching in Nineveh? The people repented, put on sackcloth and sat in ashes.
It IS in the Bible!
Yes, Lent begins today.
I did read about the pagans in Nineveh. Thank God they repented. That said, we are talking about the Church.
Not related. Here is the opening of the LCMS explanation of Ash Wednesday.
The Ash Wednesday Gospel (Matthew 6) speaks against disfiguring faces to show others that you are fasting. People sometimes mistakenly think that's what the ashes for which Ash Wednesday is named are all about. Wrong.
The ashes are put on with the words from Genesis 3: "Remember, O Man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return." The ashes show not fasting, but DYING. They are sign not of practicing piety, but of the rock bottom reality of life in a fallen world. They announce to us: "I am dying...and so are you."
About the Norse religion... There are so many ideas and theories about Christians stealing from pagans, often contradictory, that any assertion is just plain meaningless. This is adiaphora, not Gospel and not theology.
Contrast that with the heartbeat of Christ - the very salvation of our souls through His Gospel of grace.
What contrast? No one says that Ash Wednesday is necessary for salvation.
As pagan practices were incorporated into the early church, they became a system of works, rituals, sacraments, etc., that substitute for the Gospel of Grace.
That the claim is made that Ash Wednesday celebrates Genesis 3 is simply a claim from a later time to backfill a practice incorporated from paganism. It is neither commanded to the Church, not instructed, nor modeled, nor written about before 100 AD.
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