Ash Wednesday…. What do the ashes symbolize?
• 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 ashe
