Ash Wednesday 21st February 2021

In Lent we are called to discover afresh the power of Christ’s Cross.

This is why at the centre of Ash Wednesday eucharist we have the signing of the cross on our foreheads even if we must do it ourselves today.

It seems a long time since we were in Tenerife walking in the mountains.

We visited the small town of Santiago del Teide perched on the lower slopes of Mount Teide which towers almost 4000 metres above sea level, the highest point above sea level of any island in the Atlantic Ocean, and third highest volcano on any volcanic island in the world.

The volcano last erupted in 1909. When it did so the inhabitants of Santiago del Teide were faced with the prospect of their town’s obliteration. 

It’s a deeply Christian place, Tenerife. When they saw the volcano erupt the villagers didn’t hesitate to act. 

They took the cross from the altar and went up the hill to meet the lava. The flow stopped where they met and each year since there’s been a thanksgiving procession. 

I walked to the place where the lava stopped and said a prayer by the Cross there and before the original cross that’s in the beautiful church there.

The people saw burning lava halt before the Cross and the victory of their Christian faith. 

In my own experience the Cross is as sure a weapon against no less fiery assaults against my spirit. 

To believe in the Cross is to believe in the risen Lord Jesus Christ who stands behind it and beside each one of us. His power in us, by his Spirit, is greater than the power of any enemy, however powerful.

From today Christians are paying special attention to the Cross of our Saviour and how it engages with our personal struggle against sin.

You may struggle with lack of faith in yourself – the Cross says God loves you, turn from such disbelief.

You may struggle with lack of faith in other people – the Cross says God loves them as well as you and much more, so forgive those who upset you or who seem to be against you.

You may struggle with lack of faith in God – the Cross tells you God loves you enough to die for you.

When we take the ashes we take them on our heads because Jesus said God loves us so much he numbers every hair on our head.

When we make the cross on our foreheads today we’re invited to say the words Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ. These words can be paraphrased as ‘God loves you. Turn from sin’.

‘God forbid that we should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’ Saint Paul once wrote (Galatians 6:14) and he goes on to invite us to let the Cross bring God's grace into our lives. 

We’re now to seek such grace for the empowerment of our lives, grace that comes from the foot of the Cross.

Let’s turn there now as we think in a moment of silence of our forgetfulness of God, times we’ve let people down and times we’ve let ourselves down through not doing our best.

Photo by Budkov Denis