By Philip Nwosu
Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Adewale Martins, has called on Christians to see the ash on their foreheads as protest of dysfunction in the Nigerian society.
The Catholic clergy spoke, yesterday, during his Lenten reflections, saying, “The ash should be a visible proclamation that we accept the fact that we are called to be different; to resist the allure of world that often neglects the gospel values of love, justice and mercy.”
He called on Christians to let the ashes on their foreheads be the symbol of the realisation that things are not as they ought to be in the world, and to also make deliberate efforts to stops whatever they are doing that contributes to the dysfunction.
He called on Christians to also see the ashes on their foreheads as a humble reminder to the need for repentance and transformation, praying that Almighty God would grant Catholics the strength to embrace the call to change and turn away from distractions and journey back to God.
Martins said the beginning of the season of Lent was an invitation to embark on a spiritual journey together with the whole church, a journey that demands radical change of heart and mind.
Drawing inspiration from the books of Joel, 2 Corinthians, and Matthew as “passages for reflection,” the clergy said: “This gives us a road map for this spiritual pilgrimage. Prophet Joel calls out to us to ‘return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love’.
“This, my dear friends, is a divine invitation for us to re-access our lives, to turn away from the distractions of sin and the world, and to embrace the loving arms of our merciful God.
“St. Paul declares that this invitation demands immediate and radical responses because, as he says, ‘now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation’.
“Jesus himself tells us in clear terms the three disciplines that we must embrace to make our Lenten pilgrimage a success: fasting, prayers, and arms giving.
“Through our observance of these three pillars of lent, we will be able to bring ourselves back into communion with God by the end of our spiritual pilgrimage.
“By Easter Sunday, when we enter into the joy of the resurrection of the Lord, we cannot be the same persons we are on this day of Ash Wednesday.
”We would have risen from the ashes of sin into the joy of new life. Our lives, our society, and the world, by extension, would have begun to experience a radical change.”
The Archbishop also urged Christians to remember that the ashes imposed on their foreheads are not a badge of honour or a display of self-righteousness. Rather, they are a humble acknowledgement of the need for repentance and a visible sign of commitment to the transformation journey of the season of lent.
“The Liturgy of Ash Wednesday in the Catholic Church is distinguished by the rigour of the blessing and imposition of ashes, ashes that are from the burning of palm branches that were used during last year’s Palm Sunday procession.
“In other words, the ashes, being the final paltry remnants left behind by the once vibrant palm fronts; remind us of death, the final end of human beings.
“Hence, the imposition of the ashes that we receive today is accompanied by the words ‘remember you are dust, and unto dust shall you return’ or similar wards.”