Today Lent begins, the season of penance leading up to Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter.

If you received ashes during Ash Wednesday Mass today, the priest or Deacon had the option of saying the traditional, “Remember thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return.”

This is to remind you of your mortality. You will not be alive for ever, some day you will die. This annual reminder of that may be the only one of your own mortality, apart from the death of a loved one. I think this is important, as it is the only reminder of mortality that you have that isn’t distracted by grief and other emotions. You can meditate on it. Consider that.

Repent, and believe in the Gospel. (That was the other option to be said at the dispensation of ashes.)

NOTE: This is a “retropost,” a post from an old blog I wrote on “The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven (& Purgatory) and Hell” that I shuttered a few years ago. Individual posts are being transferred to either In Exile or Sober Catholic, whichever seems appropriate. Some are backdated, others postdated, in case you’re confused as to why you never saw a particular post if you’re a diligent reader. The process should be completed by early 2022.

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