Questions About Keeping the Ashes on Out in Public

What Does the Prayer Really Say ^ | 2/17/10 | Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

[marshmallow]

Questions… questions…

From The Catholic League:

JOE BIDEN RIDICULED FOR WEARING ASHES

Fox News analyst Bob Beckel today criticized Vice President Joe Biden for wearing ashes on TV; today is Ash Wednesday and Biden is Catholic.

In the middle of a discussion on President Obama’s stimulus plan, Beckel gratuitously said, “Sorry about laughing, but I looked at Joe Biden’s forehead, and I know it is Ash Wednesday, but I’m not sure I would wear that ash on the air. Anyway….”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue wasn’t amused:

Bob Beckel’s admonishing remark, “I’m not sure I would wear that ash on the air,” makes us wonder whether it is the public display of ashes he finds risible, or the religion that sports them.

In any event, there is no record of Beckel ever lecturing a Jew about wearing a yarmulke on TV or a Muslim wearing a turban. Must be something about Catholicism that bothers this guy. We’d love to know what it is. At the very least, a clarification about what he meant is in order.

I am not a fan of Vice President Biden. I think his public record as a pro-abortion "Catholic" Senator and his risible comments about Church doctrine concerning abortion deserve all the beatings we can deliver. I think it is a scandal that his bishops would not deny him Holy Communion.

However, you do not have to be in the state of grace to receive ashes on Ash Wednesday. You receive because you are a sinner.

At the same time, I remember something in the readings about washing your face and not being obvious as a penitent in public… yes… I remember reading that somewhere (cf. Matthew 6).

Tough call.

So…. ashes in public? Give witness to your Catholic identity in a world which needs it?

Wash them off because of what the Lord says?

Discuss.

[trisham]

let’s expand, as someone else has, on the thread, and postulate that he is wearing all three whilst drinking DD coffee and affecting an Indian accent ; )

*************************

Heh. I almost missed that! :)

[alicewonders]

Certainly I can not know what is in Biden's heart, but I can suspect that based on his past record of support for *pro-choice* causes, judges, appointees, legislation, etc. his intentions are somewhat less than sincere.

I have the same suspicion.

[Salvation]

**So…. ashes in public? Give witness to your Catholic identity in a world which needs it? **

I went for this and had no adverse reactions.

The Bible tells us — Deny me in front of other people and I will deny you in front of my Father. (partaphrasing)

[Salvation]

I think you missed the line above that said a person does not have to be in the state of grace (good Catholic) to receive the ashes.

The ashes are a symbol of our mortality and our sinfulness.

YOU could walk into a Catholic Church and receive the ashes on your forehead.

[Salvation]

The priest or lay minister can say either of the two things while applying the ashes"

 

"Remember, man thou are dust and unto dust thou shalt return."

 

"Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel."

 

These apply to anyone who is a sinner -- including Biden.  So, do you see that you, also, might receive the ashes in a Catholic Church?

[Salvation]

Doctors who perform abortions are not Catholic — maybe CINOs. But I doubt that there are any at all.

[Salvation]

Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Ashes

[Between the Lines]

I am not Catholic, but I find the question raised by the article to be a good one and the comments here in this thread inciteful. Here is an article I found which I think adds a lot to the subject:

Ashes on the forehead: public declarations not of virtue, but of unworthiness (Ash Wednesday, Matt. 6:1-6,16-18)

Isn't it strange that we're beginning the season of Lent with what is seemingly the exact opposite of what Jesus commands us in the gospel reading?

“Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them”, he reminds us. And yet the whole world will see our crosses as a mark of our piety. They will be there for everyone to see and to know that we've been to church today.

Still, the ashes on our forehead will not be a declaration of our virtue or piety. Instead they will represent a public declaration of our unworthiness, our sinfulness, our inadequacy and our need for God.

The crosses traced on our foreheads on this day proclaim not our goodness, but our sinfulness and our need for repentance.

It's an admission that despite all our victories, successes and triumphs in life, we remain imperfect creatures in need of God's mercy, compassion and forgiveness.

In this we hope to be different from the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees criticized by Jesus in tonight's gospel. For their displays of faith and religiosity were meant to be no more than that: a display, for everyone to see.

We, however, wear our ashes, not to parade our piety, goodness and devotion, but to tell the whole world, and to remind ourselves especially, of how weak and incomplete our commitments can be at times: to God, to others, and to ourselves.

Wearing the cross of ashes, we proclaim not our virtue, but our dependence on God and our intention to look deep into ourselves this Lent and ask some very important questions:

Has my life been consistent with my being a follower of Christ? How much commitment have I given to my faith, to those who need me, to my church, and to my God?

The ashes on our forehead others will indeed see. But our answer to these questions will be ours alone—ours and our heavenly Father who will see in secret how we shall answer them over the next forty days of Lent.

[Salvation]

Thanks!

Questions About Keeping the Ashes on Out in Public

Ash Wednesday in the Public Square (the phenomenon that draws in so many)
Ash Wednesday: It's Not Just For Catholics Anymore
Luxury hotel manager fired after making vulgar Ash Wednesday remarks
New York Palace Hotel boss Niklaus Leuenberger gets the door after Ash Wednesday slur
Homily for February 25, 2009 - Ash Wednesday - We just can’t live without ashes!

Remember, O Man [Ash Wednesday]
Ash Wednesday
The Day After Fat Tuesday [Ash Wednesday, Beginning of Lent]
Ash Wednesday and the Lenten Fast-Family observance Lenten season [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
Other Christians embrace Lent: "We are reclaiming a sense of history"

More Protestants turn to Ash Wednesday
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Ashes
Ash Wednesday
Where does Ash Wednesday get its ashes?
Every Ash Wednesday comes the question about ashes: to burn or to buy?

Pope will preside at Ash Wednesday Mass, procession; act will renew ancient tradition
Ash Wednesday: Preparing For Easter
Ash Wednesday: Our Shifting Understanding of Lent
Ash Wednesday

[murron]

Yes, that would have been interesting to see what he had for lunch or dinner and how much.

[murron]

What would be the point, then, of receiving ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday if not to wear them during the day? If we weren’t supposed to show them, then why not put the ashes on the back of our hands? Once they’re on your forehead, how can people not see them? I’m certainly not going to get ashes and then go home and wash them off.

[Houghton M.]

The term “day of obligation” in common parlance refers to the obligation to hear Mass. It was in that sense that the commenter used the word and that I repeated it. Yes, indeedy, one is obliged to fast and abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday.

But that’s not the way the term is normally used.

[Houghton M.]

All I can say is that someone on WDTPRS said that he or she was catechized as if washing them off was not only an option but was recommended if one perceived that wearing them would be an occasion of the sin of pride. Even good things can become occasions of sin, even spiritual things can, if done out of sinful motive, become sins.

It’s good advice—for all of us, not just Joe Biden.

[mc5cents]

If Biden thought it would help him, politically, he’d wear a Yarmulke, a turban, or a tutu.

I think you may have Biden confused with Chuck U Schumer.

[walden]

The priest at my old Episcopal church said that if you feel conspicuous and really want to wash it off, then leave it on. But, if you’re feeling kind of good about yourself and want to leave it on, then wash it off. ;-)

Sounds like a good rule to me! I left mine on the first half of the day because of where I was and who I was around, then I washed it off the second half of the day because I was in a different place around different people.