Is there a Bible verse for this practice? I don't know what its all about, can you explain it please?
2007-02-19 15:00:54 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Another day made up by man. Not biblical. Only people who have traditions from God is the Jews, because of Abraham.
2007-02-19 15:06:05 · answer #1 · answered by Guru 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The seventh Wednesday before Easter and the first day of Lent, on which many Christians receive a mark of ashes on the forehead as a token of penitence and mortality.
2007-02-19 15:05:42 · answer #2 · answered by tebone0315 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ashes have always been a sign of penitence. Lent is a penitential season.
Jon 3:3 And Jonas arose, and went to Ninive, according to the word of the Lord: now Ninive was a great city of three days' journey.
Jon 3:4 And Jonas began to enter into the city one day's journey: and he cried and said: Yet forty days and Ninive shall be destroyed.
Jon 3:5 And the men of Ninive believed in God: and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least.
Jon 3:6 And the word came to the king of Ninive: and he rose up out of his throne, and cast away his robe from him, and was clothed in sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Est 4:1 Now when Mardochai had heard these things, he rent his garments, and put on sackcloth, strewing ashes on his head and he cried with a loud voice in the street in the midst of the city, shewing the anguish of his mind.
Est 4:2 And he came lamenting in this manner even to the gate of the palace: for no one clothed with sackcloth might enter the king's court.
Est 4:3 And in all provinces, towns, and places, to which the king's cruel edict was come, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, wailing, and weeping, many using sackcloth and ashes for their bed.
Job 16:15 (16:16) I have sowed sackcloth upon my skin, and have covered my flesh with ashes.
Mat 11:21 Woe thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida: for if in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in you, they had long ago done penance in sackcloth and ashes.
2007-02-19 21:29:17 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ash Wednesday is a time for Cathoics to remember that "from dust we came, and to dust we shall return". It reminds Catholics that their corporeal bodies are not their significant component. It reminds them that they are mortal.
Your characterization of ashes "shashed all over their heads" is off. They are placed there in the form of a cross, and it is not a great deal of ashes.
Ash Wednesday is the begining of the 40 days of Lent, which represent the time that Christ was tempted in the desert. It is a time of fasting and contemplation. It is a time to deny the body for the benefit of the soul. It is a time to grow closer to God through prayer and meditation.
Thie period leads to Good Friday, and, ultimately, Easter. It is a time to remember Christ's suffering and to strengthen their spirituality.
2007-02-19 15:07:59 · answer #4 · answered by Deirdre H 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No God doesn't Give a crap about ashes the people get them so they can have a spiritual experience appreciate the gifts they have and think about sacrifice for others and compassion for others well that's what its about. Its about an inner journey not an outer one.
2007-02-19 15:07:44 · answer #5 · answered by Rich 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ash Wednesday is the start of the 40 day period prior to Lent...
In general...theres more to it than that.
2007-02-19 15:04:58 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is not on your head my brother in Christ.
The prophet Daniel pleaded for God to rescue Israel with sackcloth and ashes as a sign of Israel's repentance: "I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes" (Dn 9:3).
Perhaps the best known example of repentance in the Old Testament also involves sackcloth and ashes. When the prophet Jonah finally obeyed God's command and preached in the great city of Nineveh, his preaching was amazingly effective. Word of his message was carried to the king of Nineveh. "When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes" (Jon 3:6).
With love in our Lord
2007-02-20 14:06:57 · answer #7 · answered by imacatlick2 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
+ Ashes in the Bible +
"O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, roll in the ashes." (Jeremiah 6:26)
"I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes." (Daniel 9:3)
"When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes." (Jonah 3:6)
"And all the Israelite men, women and children who lived in Jerusalem prostrated themselves in front of the temple building, with ashes strewn on their heads, displaying their sackcloth covering before the Lord." (Judith 4:11; see also 4:15 and 9:1)
"That day they fasted and wore sackcloth; they sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their clothes." (1 Maccabees 3:47; see also 4:39)
Jesus refers to the use of sackcloth and ashes as signs of repentance: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes." (Matthew 11:21, Luke 10:13)
+ Ash Wednesday +
As the beginning of Lent, Ash Wednesday calls us to the conversion journey that marks the season.
As those preparing to join the Church enter the final stage of their preparation for the Easter sacraments, we are all called to walk with them so that we will be prepared to renew our baptismal promises when Easter arrives.
When we receive ashes on our foreheads, we remember:
+ Who we are
+ That we are creatures of the earth
. "Remember that you are dust"
+ That we are mortal beings
. "and to dust you will return"
+ That we are people on a journey of conversion
. "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel"
+ That we are members of the body of Christ
+ That smudge on our foreheads will proclaim that identity to others, too
With love in Christ.
2007-02-20 07:19:06 · answer #8 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Humility is the answer to this question. You're obviously not a Catholic.
2007-02-19 15:05:47 · answer #9 · answered by poutine 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, you don't have to get it, but you could try allowing all people to worship how, where and what they may.
2007-02-19 15:05:19 · answer #10 · answered by rndyh77 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋