In
the service, Steve took the opportunity to show a DVD which reminded us of the
origins of the service of the Ashes, in which a cross of ash is placed on
believers’ foreheads – looking back to Ashes as a sign of sorrow in the Old Testament,
Jesus’ forty days of testing in the wilderness which is commemorated by the 40
days of Lent, and Jesus act of love and forgiveness on the cross.
In
his sermon, Steve remarked on the appropriateness, this year, of Ash Wednesday
and Valentine’s Day coinciding. Both are acts of love, which need a response.
There
was then a time of congregational confession. Everyone (who wanted it) was then
marked in ash with the sign of the cross, and the words: “remember that we all
come from dust and to dust we shall return.”
It
was good to be able to start our season of Lent in this way
