Pope Benedict XVI led a procession on Wednesday afternoon, from the church of St.
Anselm to the Church of St. Sabina on the Aventine hill in Rome, where he celebrated
Mass and distributed ashes to the faithful at the beginning of Lent.
Below,
please find the full text of the Holy Father's homily.
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Ash
Wednesday is a day of fasting and penance on which we begin a new journey towards
the Easter of Resurrection, the journey of Lent. I would like to reflect on the liturgical
sign of the ashes, a material sign, a natural element that, in the Liturgy, becomes
a sacred symbol, so important on this day that marks the start of our Lenten journey.
In ancient times, in the Jewish culture, it was common to sprinkle one’s head with
ashes as a sign of penance, and to dress in sack-cloth and rags. For us Christians,
there is this one moment which has important symbolic and spiritual relevance.
Ashes
are the material sign that brings the cosmos into the Liturgy. The most important
signs are those of the Sacraments: water, oil, bread and wine, which become true sacramental
elements through which we communicate the Grace of Christ who comes among us. The
ashes are not a sacramental sign, but they are linked with prayer and the sanctification
of the Christian people. Before the ashes are placed on our heads, they are blessed
according to two possible formulae: in the first they are called “austere symbols”,
in the second, we invoke a blessing directly upon them, referring to the text in the
Book of Genesis which can also accompany the imposition of the ashes: “Remember that
you are dust and unto dust you shall return”.
Let us reflect for a moment on
this passage of Genesis. It concludes with a judgement made by God after original
sin. God curses the serpent who caused man and woman to commit sin. Then He punishes
the woman saying she will suffer the pains of giving birth. Then He punishes the man,
saying he will suffer the fatigue of labour and He curses the soil saying “accursed
be the soil because of you, because of your sin.” The man and woman are not cursed
directly as the serpent is, but because of Adam’s sin. Let us reread the account of
how God created man from the Earth. “God fashioned man of dust from the soil. Then
He breathed into his nostrils, a breath of life. Thus man became a live being. Then
God planted a garden in Eden, which is in the East, and there He put the man He had
fashioned.” Thus the sign of the ashes recalls the great story of creation which tells
us that being human means unifying matter with Divine breath, using the image of dust
formed by God and given life by His breath, breathed into the nostrils of the new
creature.
In the Genesis account, the symbol of dust takes on a negative connotation
because of sin. Before the fall the soil is totally good: through God’s work it is
capable of producing “every kind of tree enticing to look at and good to eat.” After
the fall and following the divine curse it produces only thorns and brambles and only
in exchange for the sweat of man’s brow will it surrender its fruits. The dust of
the Earth no longer recalls the creative hand of God, one that is open to life, but
it becomes a sign of death: “Dust you are and unto dust you shall return.” It is
clear from this Biblical text that the Earth participates in man’s destiny. In one
of his homilies, St. John Chrysostom says: “See how after his disobedience, everything
is imposed on man in a way that is contrary to his previous life style.” This cursing
of the soil has a “medicinal” function for man who learns from the resistance of the
earth to recognize his limitations and his own human nature.
Another ancient
commentary summarizes this beautifully: “Adam was created pure by God to serve Him.
All creatures were created for the service of man. He was destined to be lord and
king over all creatures. But when he embraced evil he did so by listening to something
outside of himself. This penetrated his heart and took over his whole being. Thus
ensnared by evil, Creation, which had assisted and served him, was ensnared together
with him.” As we said earlier quoting John Chrysostom, the cursing of the soil
had a “medicinal”, or healing, function: meaning that God’s intention is always good
and more profound, even than His own curse. The curse does not come from God but from
sin. God cannot avoid inflicting the curse because he respects human freedom and its
consequences even when they are negative. Thus, within the punishment and within the
curse, there is a good intention that comes from God. When He says, “Dust you are
and unto dust you shall return”, He intends inflicting a just punishment, but also
announcing the way to salvation. This will pass through the Earth, through that same
dust, that same flesh which will be assumed by the Word Incarnate.
This is
context in which the words of Genesis are reflected in the Ash Wednesday liturgy:
as an invitation to penance, humility, and an awareness of our mortal state. We are
not to despair, but to welcome in this mortal state of ours the unthinkable nearness
of God who opens the way to Resurrection, to paradise regained, beyond death. There
is a text by Origen that says: “That which was flesh, earth, dust, and was destroyed
by death and returned to dust and ashes, is made to rise again from the earth. According
to the merits of the soul that inhabits the body, the person advances towards the
glory of a spiritual body.”
The merits of the soul about which Origen speaks
are important, but more important are the merits of Christ, the efficacy of his Pascal
Mystery. St. Paul gives us a good summary in the second reading: “For our sake God
made the sinless one into sin so that in Him we might become the goodness of God.”
For us to enjoy divine forgiveness depends essentially on the fact that God Himself,
in the person of His Son, wanted to share in our human condition, but not in the corruption
of sin. The Father resurrected Him through the power of His Holy Spirit and Jesus,
the new Adam, became the spirit who gives us life, the first fruits of the new creation.
The same spirit that resurrected Jesus from the dead can transform our hearts
from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. We said as much in the psalm: “A pure heart
create for me O God, put a steadfast spirit within me, do not cast me away from your
presence, nor deprive me of your holy spirit.” That the same God that exiled our first
parents from Eden, sent His own Son to this Earth devastated by sin, without sparing
Him, so that we, prodigal children, can return, penitent and redeemed through His
mercy, to our true homeland. So it be for all of us, and for all believers, and for
all those who humbly recognize their need to be saved. Amen.