What Is Ash Wednesday? (An Outsider Asks)
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- Опубліковано 13 лют 2024
- What is Ash Wednesday? Why do Christians intentionally smudge their faces with soot? I remember seeing people around town with cross-shaped ashes on their foreheads back when I was a kid, but I don't remember that ever happening at our church. So what is this about, and is it for normal people and outsiders, or only for people who already go to a certain kind of church?
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I’m Catholic and we actually burn the Palms from last year.
I'm Episcopalian and we do the same thing.
Yep. It connects the very ashes, as a sacramental, with the Paschal mysteries.
That's how it should be done I think.
Me, too! We did it last Sunday. Beautiful rite with prayers.
I'm a new Catholic and just learnt about burning last year's palms on ash wednesday in tonight's class. Next year I will bring mine. Exciting stuff. Lots to learn.
In the Latin Rite Catholic imposition of ashes, the person applying the ashes has 2 options for what to say. The better-known "Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return" as well as the less commonly used but equally meaningful, "Repent and believe the Gospel." My priests today said the latter. The latter really speaks to something that is the whole message of the Lenten season - repentance.
We had the latter one this morning as well.. I had never heard it that way before.
In about 20 or so Ash Wednesday's, I've heard "Repent and believe the Gospel" exactly once. I wasn't sure if the person giving me ashes had accidentally screwed up because I'd never heard it before.
I like Repent and Believe in the Gospel well enough, but I dont think I have ever had ashes given with Remember you are dust. Which is really annoying, because it's the one that speaks to me more.
Yep, we also say “Turn away from sin and follow the Gospel”, but I don’t prefer that.
My priest said that at the imposition of the ashes, as well.
I am Episcopalian and the Ash Wednesday services are important reminders for us; as our priest places the ashes on our forehead, we are reminded “from dust you were formed and to dust you shall return”. Growing up in a Baptist household, where we did not observe Ash Wednesday and Lent, these solemn parts of the faith have become very important to me in my faith.
they do them in many baptist and most other protesant churches
I was Baptized in 83 in the Episcopalian when my daughter was a infant. I felt it was the right thing to do. However I was rebaptized last Sunday under submersion. The Church is a offshoot of the Baptist Church. The Pastor told everyone go get ashes if you feel Inclined. I wish I had. This explained it to me. Thank you.
As a Catholic, I would like to thank you for this and other videos. They are always so wholesome and spirit-filled!
I am Anglican and we told, if it bothers you to be seen with ashes leave them on, if not remove them. ❤
if it bother you,, you arent a christian
Ashes in Catholic tradition are sacramentals. And this makes them considerably different in Lutheran tradition (of pastor Rev. Brown), despite some aesthetic proximity. As Catholics understand them, even if they are not sacraments, they are still further from a sociological tradition of ecclesiastical importance or a theatrical enactment; sacramentals really _”are sacred signs instituted by the Church. They prepare men to receive the fruit of the sacraments and sanctify different circumstances of life”_ (CCC, par. 1677). The ashes, by the way, are created by burning palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebration. It’s done that way not only because the church received that as customary, but because the dispensation of God’s mysteries through the Church comes from the Paschal conquer of death on the cross. Palm Sunday is the last Sunday of Lent and leads into Holy Week: therefore, the very efficacy of (both) sacramentals and sacraments is derived from the life-giving mystery of the cross. In that we recognize through the ashes our mortality and our sinful condition, which means we thus recall Jesus is our savior, the one who rescues us from both our physical and spiritual deaths.
Even so, it’s important to remember that _”Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church's prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it”_ (CCC, par 1670).
Therefore, while sacraments - which are instituted by Christ Jesus - confer graces by the mere operation of it ("ex opere operato") and are not in any means conditioned by the worthiness of the minister and even the recipient, even though the fruitfulness of its reception can vary conforming personal dispositions (of the one who gets them ministered to), sacramentals - which are instituted by the Church - can only confer graces from the work of the ones both actively and passively performing the action ("ex opere operantis"). _"Here the grace received is determined by the spiritual disposition or worthiness of the individual and the intercessory prayer of the Church"_ (v. Christopher M. Buckner, Theology Of The Sacraments, Part Two [Hamilton, Virginia: The Catholic Distance University, 1995], Lesson 9-2).
God bless you all!
Thank you for the detailed explanation!
Jewish people understand wave offering, adults baptizing and re-baptizing themselves(mizpha promise and tvilah is the act of immersion in naturally sourced pool of water, called a mikva.), and burnt offering, it’s not a Catholic thing, it’s a Judeo Christian thing. But the idea of Ash Wednesday is a very Catholic and Lutheran thing not in Scripture, just a beautiful symbolic tradition.
The Sacraments are not limited to seven.
@@SRose-vp6ew we call it the Judeo Christian tradition because Catholicism is the continuation of Judaism. Jews that convert to Catholicism call themselves fulfilled Jews. Check out Roy Schoeman.
@@elliotdavies1418 They are seven, if you consider the sacraments in the strictest sense of the term. But in the more loose terminology, one can say the Church is “the universal sacrament of salvation” or other applications. Maybe you thought about the sacramentals, right?
1117 _”As she has done for the canon of Sacred Scripture and for the doctrine of the faith, the Church, by the power of the Spirit who guides her "into all truth," has gradually recognized this treasure received from Christ and, as the faithful steward of God's mysteries, has determined its "dispensation."34 _*_Thus the Church has discerned over the centuries that among liturgical celebrations there are seven that are, in the strict sense of the term, sacraments_*_ instituted by the Lord_ (CCC, par. 1117).
For Catholics, Ash Wednesday is also encouraged to be a day of abstinence (from meat) and fasting as a form of prayer and self-denial to help us make more room for following Christ's will for us.
Don't forget alms giving though out lent
Not merely encouraged, it's obligatory.
Same with Lutherans etc
ash wedenesday is the beginning of Lent..a 40 day abstinence from many things
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are the two days of OBLIGATORY fast for Catholics.
No meat + one meal per day.
Received the ashes at church this morning! I love the rituals of the Church!
I am a Baptist who attends a church in the Mid-Atlantic USA affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF). Our congregation has an evening service for the imposition of the ashes. The service is quiet, sans choir but with hymns, sober but not dour, and is one of the only times the window curtains are drawn closed, to help mute out the traffic on the adjacent road (normally the windows are open for all the world to see and be drawn in). I find it to be one of the most moving services, and the one I feel most important for me to attend outside of Christmas and Holy Week, ranking alongside its contrasting counterpart of Advent.
I don't recall whether the Baptist congregation I grew up in had such a service (as we didn't attend it either way). I suspect the practice was recovered in the last few decades as part of the ecumenical movement and with it a general interest in restoring elements of the faith that were perhaps over-enthusiastically discarded once upon a time. Indeed, the ecumenical inclusion of major church traditions was one of my criteria when searching for a new church home.
Wow, thanks for sharing! Awesome! I think that movement sounds great.
I’m Catholic and I didn’t know our Lutherans, Anglicans and Episcopalians brothers and sisters also practice Ash Wednesday! Somehow makes me happy! Thank you Matt!
Methodist here and we do too.
You’ll be surprised and delighted to learn even more about what the broader Church practices. Mostly similar to the RC and, of course, some divergence. Anglican here. 😊
In the Lutheran Church where I grew up in, we not only had Ash Wednesday services; we had weekly lenton soup suppers and fellowship on the Wednesday evenings during Lent. (It was long ago, so I don't remember much detail.)
An Episcopalian church had a sign that said drive through blessings, my husband I decided to stop. The priest put the ashes in the shape of a cross on pur forhead and then prayed. It was a first for us however I've given up soda and he's given up energy drinks and are avoiding meat on Fridays because we might as well go all in since we got the blessings. I think that was an amazing way for churches to bring more people to repentance.
For the record, ELCA Lutherans also observe the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday. Thanks for the video, Matt. Pastor Brown did a fine job.
Thank you! That's good to know.
almost all denominations do
@@MattWhitmanTMBH Actually Ash Wednesday Dates Back To Ancient India And Yes We Are In KaliYug
Thank you so much for everything Matt, wonderful video. I was baptised & confirmed in 2021here in the CofE in UK, you have been a part of my journey. I love Ash Wednesday and All Souls Day in November. I embrace my ash cross with love and pride
It’s also practiced in the western rite of the Orthodox Church
Did not know this, thanks for letting us know!
May our two churches unite one day.
Glory to Jesus Christ!🙏☦️♥️
Anglicans have a whole liturgy for Ash Wednesday! And the idea of ashes is also found in the Old Testament 😊. BTW - the Anglican Book of Common Prayer ( a.k.a. BCP) contains all of our liturgies as well as the daily office, and a whole host of other things, So if you’re curious as to what Anglicans celebrate and believe, the prayer book says it all!
I am Episcopalian and we always burn the palms from last Palm Sunday for Ash Wednesday. I love this tradition because I feel like I'm wearing the hosannas I sung to our Lord on Palm Sunday! Hosanna to the Son of David!
9:40 Excellent observation! We do tend to avoid some really helpful practices at times simply because they're "not our brand".
How true. There are wonderful traditions that the church has offered her people. I want to worship God with my whole being, not just my intellect. I grew even Evangelical, but now I’m in an Anglican. I love the incense, the beautiful colors, the church calendar and seasons, celebrations like Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, lent, epiphany, etc.
I think it's sad. They could be rich and deeply moving.
The Catholic tradition of ashes on Ash Wednesday goes back pretty far. The earliest mention of the practice can be found in the Gregorian Sacramentary (a book with directives for the liturgy) where this particular mass makes use of blessed ashes from the previous year's Palm Sunday palms to begin the Lent season. That book was published in the 8th century, but it is most likely that the practice went back much further than that and probably dates to a centuries earlier practice.
Based on Maccabees.
it goes back to the very days of martyrdom of christians of the first century.. even the first years after CHRIST
The New Catholic Encyclopedia states: “The practice of the faithful receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday has been universal since the Synod of Benevento in 1091.” The encyclopedia also says that Lent was established “in the fourth century, over 200 years after the Bible was completed.”
Anything that helps us to remember that repentance and contriteness of heart is an everyday thing.
The traditional liturgical calendar is a blessing to help us along the way, whether the sign on the door is Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, etc.
Agreed!
I'm part of the Dutch Reformed church in South Africa, and as a specific congregation we have always practiced Ash Wednesday, much in the exact same way as this pastor in the video described. We usually have our service in the evening, and we also allow people to make the cross mark on their hands. In our congregation, we put down Communion (bread and wine) for the participants to take themselves. The past two years, we had a "silent" service, where we would display various scriptures on the projection board, with soft music playing in the background, and simple instructions to guide the participants in going through all of it themselves, either individually or with a friend or as a family.
Regarding the ashes themselves - every year we intend to keep the palms from Palm Sunday, but then we forget 😜 so we just burn some new dry leaves and mix them with oil instead.
It's a special start to Lent 😎.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing!
Catholic here. Thnks for the humility. GOD bless you all! 🙏
Wow!! What a great insight, I didn't know anything about Ash Wednesday, and now (although it is not commanded) I absolutely love the tradition.
Over the last year or so, I've come to realize that the physical things we do, even just traditions, are more important than I gave them credit for in the past. No, the ashes do not bestow special grace in themselves, but they remind us of our humanity and our sin, and point us toward our needy condition (helpless estate) that brought Jesus to die that we could have life.
Good for you. Continue to stay open to some of these wonderful traditions that the church has offered her people. We want to worship God with our whole being, not just our intellect. I grew up Evangelical, but now I’m in an Anglican. I love the incense, the beautiful colors, the church calendar and seasons, celebrations like Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, Lent, Epiphany, etc. Rather than the “excarnation” of the world that the Enlightenment brought, we see in such Scriptures as Psalm 19 that the world declares/points to the glory of God. So we should not shy away from seeing the world as “enchanted” and look for ways that God used the material to reveal the immaterial (think Eucharist). 😊
@nchunter8918, I grew up Pentecostal so I didn’t learn about Christian traditions until l was in my 20s back in the 80s.
There is so much beauty, solemnity and reverence in the old practices and hymnody that I cannot go back to less structured worship.
A huge plus is the greater reference to Scripture itself.
Employing the 5 senses that God gave us in worship is to honor His creation.
Body language in worship is another way to focus on what it is we are hearing and praying and singing.
I got to participate in such a service at another LCMS church similar to this one, even the same name for the church. I also grew up in an evangelical/nondenominational church. It was quite an experience. Very solemn.
I am Baptist and always curious about this. Thanks for the video, very informative.
The ash tradition was not something I really noticed until I became Chaplain Assistant in the Air Force. Helping prepare the different services from Catholic and other high church traditions to the contemporary and gospel services was like getting an overview of Christian history every week. It helped me appreciate my Christianity seeing the through-line of the gospel from the different traditions.
As a note, Chaplain Assistants (now called Religious Affairs Airmen) do not need to have any religious affiliation. The career field is there to directly provide or indirectly provide for the free exercise of religion. They also advise leaders at all levels on ethical, moral, and morale issues especially for the enlisted force.
Very good video! I'm a lutheran in Brazil and we do not have this practice here. I think it's quite interesting that lutherans are bringing this tradiction back in the US!
Great and timely video..answered a lot of questions for this evangelical/non-denominational/baptist!
I appreciate the response from the Lutheran pastor.. I'm not one to celebrate or partake in Ash Wednesday but I respect the liberty on Christ of those who want to do that.
I recently found a post online where I saw a particular individual really go hard against those who do practice ash Wednesday and I felt it was just not a charitable conversation overall.
Like I said, I'm not feeling drawn to get ashes on my forehead but I don't want to look down upon a neighbor of mine who does this.
This Lutheran pastor gets the issue with Catholicism. Great video. Thx.
Agree - denominations that don’t practice these ancient and meaningful traditions usually say they are “too Catholic”…their huge loss…
I miss it so much. I go to a non denomination with hubby but these rites are so important. They are traditions that won’t save you but they remind you of the cost
I have always appreciated your willingness to step out of your own comfort zone and ask insightful questions that lead to shared understanding with other forms of Christianity. I was struck by the comment about shedding and rediscovering various forms of practice and expressions of faith. I am wholeheartedly of the belief that we need to seek more understanding with others and deeply bury the "I'm right and you're wrong" mentality in so many parts of our daily lives. Thanks!
It is something optional but it’s nice to do. It won’t save you but it may help live a better life for our Saviour, Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Amen. ✝️
That’s like saying eating cake on your birthday won’t make you younger but it’s a nice tradition. Eating cake and your age have nothing to do with each other. the cake is just a reminder of our birthday and to celebrate that day. Just like ashes won’t save you. Ashes remind us of our mortality, and our need for ongoing repentance.
Beautiful Catholic tradition, glad the Lutherans, Anglicans, and Episcopals kept it.
And Methodists…Anglican here. 😊
From a Catholic perspective the ashes on ash Wednesday are a sacramental, nt a sacrament, like holy water. A sacramental, when used with devotion, can impart grace but not salvation/the forgiveness of sin, but can strengthen a Christian to greater faith and good works.
From an Orthodox perspective, to make sure we share all sides of the coin [it's similar though]:
The more ancient and traditional practice is not to isolate seven Sacraments from the many other actions in the Church which also possess a sacramental character. Some of these sacramental activities are:
the service for the burial of the dead
the rites for a monastic profession
the blessing of waters at Epiphany
the anointing of a monarch.
These also contain a combination of outward, visible signs and inward, spiritual grace. Even the blessings of homes, fields, fruits, cars, and pets have a sacramental nature.
We see Saint Ambrose writing about foot washing as a sacrament in the 4th and was part of Christian liturgy from the first century.
Bless Ash Wednesday everyone!!!
Just a foot note. Ash Wednesday is not a Holy Day of Obligation, though many Priests will attest it is the third highest day of attendance at most churches. Though not a day of obligation, the rules of fasting and abstinence do apply to it. Many Catholics wear the ashes till evening cleanup, mainly not to get strange looks when ordering the fish sandwich on a wednesday.
Though The Church has relaxed the rules on fasting, it is much healthier for your body if you can try doing a full fast on the days prescribed. Nothing to do with Spirituality, abstinence can do that if you really are penetant. It has been found through research that a 24 hour fast is really good for ones body.
I am an Episcopalian and we always have a nice service for Ash Wednesday! I love it!
Trying to repeat my comment on the last version, I think it'd be interesting for next year to check with a Roman Catholic priest, to see what differences there are and aren't in the practice and theology.
As someone who in the past has helped put the ashes on (and who just got back from a noon Mass with ashes! big smear on my forehead, and our Deacon accidentally also nailed the bridge of my nose, lol), in the Catholic church, the Priest does bless the ashes, both in words and with holy water, before they're used. So I'd be interested in knowing how those are supposed to be disposed of.
Which leads to another potential idea for a (shorter) video - looking into what the Catholics, and maybe multiple faiths, are supposed to do when cleaning the vessels used for Communion. (Believing that the bread and wine have become Christ's genuine body and blood means you shouldn't just wash it down the municipal sewer, after all...)
The Catholic priest doesn’t just drain the wine into the sewer. He finishes the wine and if there is too much the Church has a separate drain where the wine can spill out on the dirt or grass outside the church so it doesn’t go into the sewer
@@catholicguy1073 Even more so there's an initial cleansing of the chalice with water along with the ciborium so that any particles of the Body or the Blood are either consuming when the priest drinks from them OR by breaking up the physical properties of bread and wine to the point that they are no longer the Sacrament. Then there's the secondary cleansing in which the water used goes down the sacrarium, as you mention, where the water goes into the earth and not into the sewer. That gets into the nerd-level details but nonetheless shows the reverence in which we hold the Sacrament.
@@catholicguy1073 Right, I knew that, I just thought it might make (part of?) an interesting future video topic.
The imposition of ashes is commonly observed in Lutheran and Anglican churches and increasingly so in other traditions, such as some Methodists and Presbyterians.
Another great video and interview! God bless you and your work, Matt!
The church I am part of is non-denominational, we started having Ash Wednesday services 3 years ago. Our church is affiliated with the Soma Family of Churches. Our lead pastor grew up Southern Baptist. I grew up Church of Christ.
Excellent video, Matt. Appreciate you bro!
I’m a Lutheran, maybe not LCMS but Lutheran nonetheless, Ash Wednesday is important. The ashes remind us of our earthly mortality and the sacrifice Christ made for us, we are to focus on repenting of our sins.
Excellent video. Our non-denominational evangelical church has had Ash Wednesday services from time to time. Mostly, as you both stated, as a preparation of the heart and soul for the Lent and Easter. I also think we do this because as a non-denominational church we have alot of faith backgrounds in our congregation and some may expect or like Ash Wednesday traditions.
Very cool. Also attend non-denominational church.
We received the ashes at my LCMS school chapel service. We have a large percentage of non-Lutheran students (and some staff) and everyone was welcome to receive the ashes. I think the sign of the cross on our forehead also reminds us of our baptism when we were marked as one redeemed by God our Father through Jesus His Son with the Holy Spirit working faith in our heart.
Great video Matt, very informative for an Orthodox Christian that is not too familiar with this. Consider looking into the Forgiveness Sunday vespers that kicks off Orthodox lent sometime. Thanks!
Article in the NY Times featured a vignette of KC Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker regarding Ash Wednesday and the Super Bowl parade. (An event which also, sadly, reminded us all that death is a part of life.)
"The team’s kicker, Harrison Butker, who speaks often about his Catholic faith, said that he would be attending Mass in the morning with his wife and children. Though he’ll participate in the parade, he added in an email to The New York Times, “I won’t be celebrating in the usual way with food and drink since it’s a day of fasting as well as abstinence from meat.”
For Mr. Butker, the trade-off is worth it.
“Just like there is no Super Bowl without sacrifice, there is no Resurrection without our Lord’s sacrifice,” he wrote. “This will be tough, but I have to remember that if I want to celebrate our Lord’s Resurrection on Easter I have to participate in his suffering during Lent.”"
The palm leaves from the previous year's Palm Sunday are burned to get the ashes for Ash Wednesday of the following year.
I attend a small Anglican Church in South Louisiana (Trinity). At the beginning of the Ash Wednesday service, we receive the ashes on our foreheads. Before we leave the church, we turn & line back up, but this time facing the back of the church. The priest stands next to the baptismal with rags. As we step forward to the priest, the dips the rag into the fount. As he says, “You are dead to sin & alive to God in Christ.” Hearing it repeated over & over again is incredibly powerful. Take a trip down to south Louisiana & get to know our little Anglican church!
The 40 days and 40 nights of Lent are also meant to remind us of Christ's time of fasting & temptation in the wilderness, in preparation for His sufferings on the cross. We follow Him into that season of fasting and prayer, as well as repentance.
Can’t wait for this guys conversion arc
Matt where have you been? I watch all the time and you have not posted in a while. I’m glad that you are back. You stopped off in my hometown of Saint Joseph Missouri about 18 months ago. I went through a grand Baptist Church.
We had an Ash Wednesday service at Disciples of Christ growing up. Not sure how evangelical churches decide whether to have them or not.
Same here. My Disciples of Christ congregation continues to have imposition of ashes at Ash Wednesday service each year.
My independent restoration church has recently in the past 10 years picked up the practice of an Ash Wednesday service. We also burn our palm branches from the previous year. Quite a change from that same church of my youth.
Ashes can be given out many places. I have seen news articles of them being given at train stations and on sidewalks. In my city it is not unusual to find a chaplain giving them out at fire & police stations, for those that can't get off shift. To me there is a real sense of fellowship when you walk up to a stranger and you both have ashes. Thanks for this video.
Hi Matt, I'm Jason. We met briefly at the gas station in Rapid City last year. I'm the technology teacher at Creekside Christian at OBC. I'm also a Confessional Lutheran and regularly do Greek exegeticals with my brother Pastor Brown. I'm still quite interested in having you visit my class and talk about being a UA-camr and podcaster.
Thanks for doing what you do 🤝🏼
Hey Matt, if you've never been to one, you should check out a palm Sunday service next year if you're able. 😊
I remember going to school and there would be a priest allowing people to receive ashes at the 'L' station. I also heard they also did this downtown.
Thank you for making this video
Thank you Mark....we walk together as The Church...the body of Christ..until He come again
I’m Methodist (United Methodist Church) and we receive ashes. ✝️
Our Church in Sturgis, SD is installing a new pastor next month. That would be a great video.
What church?
When the Pastor brought up that Luther did not want to break from the Catholic church or create a new church, he saw some things he thought needed to be looked at and reigned in. Interesting, and worthy of reflection. I have had conversations with Lutherans, and this is agreed upon. I think it's worthy bc of the large prejudice and we'll let's just call it as it is, meanness Catholics are treated with by Evangelicals and Prodestants. If they did thier history homework, they would see the early Reformers did not hate so much of the good things thay were happening that do come from Jesus and the Bible.
I can say this as I grew up Catholic and experienced this unkindness while seeing more of the similarities to my Prodestant friends churches and out of love had a heart for truth, and to be 1 body of believes as Christ commanded. I pray this happens 1 day, so God will smile on us believers.
Matt what do you think?
I attend a Non Denominational church in my 40's and know the value of reaching out in love like Christ commands. I'm still learning, always want to.❤ Blessings
We definitely do it here in the Lutheran tradition, looking forward to the Imposition of Ashes tonight!
An interesting interview on this topic and just in general would be Western Rite Orthodox Christianity (typically under the jurisdiction of Antioch). Fr. Mark Mcnary from St. Peter’s in Fort Worth, TX would be awesome. He’s super knowledgeable and very pastoral.
Anglican here. My church does have a little post-service service where we burn the palms, and a little prayer is said over them. If the weather's good enough we do it outside in a little fire pit that we have. It's a nice little service. I've only been Anglican for nearly three years so I've yet to see what happens if the weather isn't good enough for burning haha. I attended the morning Ash Wednesday service at my church. I had to take public transit to get back home, and I left the ashes on. No one said anything though. I live in a city, so maybe people have seen stranger things on public transit than a dirty forehead lol. It's a really nice service though. My priest says that Ash Wednesday is the service that made him Anglican. It's a little weird, but it's good to be humbled and reminded of your mortality once in a while.
Your camera focus looks fine to me.
I've got some tricks to cheat it into looking better than it actually is.
@@MattWhitmanTMBH If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.
Hi Matt! I re visiting this video a few months later in paschal time while we have been reading Jesus' bread of life sermon in John 6. We have been talking about the concept of comensality, of communal eating. As you have expressed that you value communion very much as an expression of christian union, I dare to suggest a deep dive into this concept of commensality in christianity.
Sorry matt, all I'm doing in the first minute is looking down at your sticker collection to see if we can get a preview of B&T.
My EFCA church does Ash Wednesday, we just did it yesterday and we burned the old palm leaves from last year too. Now granted my EFCA pastor used to be a UCC pastor, hence the key words “used to” but that’s why we do it. The church he pastored at before we would do the same thing.
Ash Wednesday is practiced in some Reformed traditions. We impose the ashes in the Evangelical Association of Reformed & Congregational Christian Churches.
If you're ever weary of American Evangelicalism, the LCMS or another confessional Lutheran church would love to have you! You should preemptively read the Augsburg Confession and the Small Catechism.
God bless🙏
For a minute I thought he said "gods bless us" at the end there. But the transcript shows that he actually said "God's blessings". Just in case anyone else heard the same thing.
Its good knowing a Lutheran pastor explaining a very Catholic thing ❤ .
The sign of the "T" is applied to remember Tamuz, which is then followed by 40 days of weeping for Tamuz. Constantine Christianized Easter and Tamuz to be for Christians, but all the same rituals were retained but the stated meaning was changed.
Christians didn't retain the anointing with ashes, though. That came back around the year 1008, in one small area, and spread from there.
I grew up LCMS and I had no idea about this. Maybe we didn't do it at our church, not sure. I definitely noticed the anti-catholic sentiment in the 80s/90s.
Exact same here.
I enjoyed this video and the explanation of the meaning and symbolism of the distribution of the ashes on Ash Wednesday.
I am Catholic and agree and appreciate the Lutheran pastor's explanation and historic symbolism given about Ash Wednesday. The only point that I found lacking was that the pastor didn't pointedly explain about the symbolism of Lent as Christ's fasting and temptations in the desert from Satan himself. This was in preparation of Christ's triumphal entrance back to Jerusalem and face His Passion at Calvary to atone for the sins of Humanity.
I just wish this important reference would have been made in the explanation to compliment and totally complete why the Lenten Season is important and why it truly is a penitential and charitable season.
There is a really good book by Esau McCauley called "Lent: The Season of Repentance and Renewal" which very nicely explains the whole process of Lent from the perspective of someone growing up outside of the Anglican tradition, and what spiritual benefits the author has found in the experience of following Lent, which of course starts with Ash Wednesday.
I highly recommend the book for those who are interested in going deeper into the topic.
A few years back, I burned the palms for Ash Wednesday. I let them dry out for almost year before I burned them, so they burned easily, and with a muddler of sorts, I made the particulate as dust. I didn't realize that I would make a lifetime supply from a typical order of palms (we didn't use them one year because of CoVID). I burned them cleanly in an old crock pot ceramic. Very easy. 10/10 would recommend.
In the Catholic Church not only do we burn the palms, the reason for the cross is repentance as well as i either missed it or didn't hear about something. I'm not aware of in other liturgical churches. In the Catholic Church the Ash Minister can say 1 of two things in the Ash service. 1. From dust and to Dust you shall return. 2. Accept the Gospel. on why many don't on top of the reason you gave they use something that he brought up as a reason i noticed (not all) but it sounds like a common objection for the ashes. that they don't because of Jesus's talk about not doing it to make it known that u fast. not all but some on UA-cam bring up talking about what ur going to give up for lent as a problem, Again not all, i have seen some that say things of that sort in videos on Lent on here.
God Bless you and keep up the videos.
ELCA Lutherans do the ashes; my church also burns their own from the previous Palm Sunday
Catholicism is surging in the United States, thanks be to God.
Anglicans and Methodists do have Ash Wednesday services.
Why the reupload?
Your old-fashioned mainstream Christian denominations do ashes. Catholics, Episcopalians, the church of England, most Lutheran, churches, Methodist, eastern, right, Catholic, as well as even orthodoxy Presbyterian do not, and I think it came about with the second shift in the church, the Calvinist and that brand of Christianity Did not do ashes nor do Baptist as you mentioned Presbyterian.
I have non-Catholic friends who come to Ash Wednesday service with me. They thought of unusual they could go get ashes, but could not go and receive the holy Eucharist.
After the Ash Wednesday service I went to put some petrol (gas) in my car. The attendant at the petrol station asked "excuse me do you realise you have a dirty mark on your forehead"....
Ash Wednesday is not a sacrament! That is something new I learned. Ty!
So did you get your ashes, Matt?
I did.
Good video, though there is a definite distinction between Roman Catholic and Lutheran that should be maintained. It wasn't a mistake to reform and call for reformation.
Can’t wait to welcome you to the Catholic Church Matt ! Love you and God bless you brother 🙏
Don't push. I've been following Matt for some years now and appreciate the position he's put himself in, learning about all these different variations of Christianity. Yes, I'd be excited if he came into full communion. But the exploration he's been doing is valuable to all Christians and is also part of his own journey.
@@cllewis1
Amen. Too much tribalism, as Matt wisely stated.
As a Baptist boy, I wiped ash off my boss’ forehead thinking I was being helpful.
40 days because Jesus went into the desert to fast for 40 days in preparation for his ministry so we also fast 40 days to prepare for Easter.
Repent and Return to the Gospel! Praise Jesus!
Is this a re-upload? I watched the video earlier, put a like in it, and made a comment. On this viewing my like is gone and my comment is gone. ???
Yes. I made a mistake on Reverend Brown's details and needed to fix it so I had to reupload. I appreciate you taking the time to comment and I'm sorry it was lost because of my mistake.
@@MattWhitmanTMBH Ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis + :-)
Most “High”/formal forms of worship practice this tradition.
Same with Presbyterian
The idea that the reformed or other denominations didn't practice the imposition of ashes because of the ideas about death - I think is an interesting idea, but not good history, because they predate that idea (and I'm not sure that even that framing in terms of the revolutions is wrong - see also Victorian funerary customs) and they also rejected the use of ashes. Most Anglicans would not have used ashes in the 1600's but would have had an Ash Wednesday penitential service, likewise the reformed dropped it because of the regulatory principal of worship not because of ideas about death.
I wasn't suggesting that's the reason Reformed types skip it (they date to the 16th century alongside Lutheranism). I had in mind modern Evangelicals and Charismatics.
Sorry I misunderstood the comment in the interview. So where do you place modern Evangelicals - terms of chronology - are you thinking the origins in the English evangelical movement of the later 18th century and American correspondence, because you used the 18th/19th century as your dating mechanism. If you are thinking more modern are you thinking 19th/20th century etc. As ever I really love your channel, I think this is an interesting idea and think it would be worth fleshing it out more - not just because of the implication of the use of Ash Wednesday. The idea of death and how we deal with it in Christianity is very important and very diverse in time and across traditions. It would make a really interesting series of videos of how we handle death and funerals.@@MattWhitmanTMBH
Outsider? Every Evangelical Church I was ever involved with celebrated Ash Wednesday.
We non-denominational church celebrate Ash Wednesday but I know a lot of eastern churches do not.