Seven Founding Hills

I am a practicing Catholic. This post is about how our family recognizes Ash Wednesday. I hope it gives you insight on how you can share your faith with your children. If you’re not Catholic hopefully it gives you a new insight of this solemn holiday.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of lent. Lent is a solumn holiday for reflecting on our own mortality, repentance, and renewal. 

I grew up in an interfaith, C & E Catholic (Christmas and Easter) household. We didn’t eat meat on Easter, we were encouraged to give up a vice, and went to Easter mass, but I didn’t really understand the intention of these actions.

These actions helped reaffirm my Catholic identity, but I longed to understand the meaning behind these traditions.

Why Do Catholics Wear Ash Crosses on Ash Wednesday?

On Ash Wednesday people go to mass and receive ashes as a visible symbol of penance.The ashes come from a Jewish tradition of fasting and wearing  ashes on the face to symbolize  the dust God created us from. 

“Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris”

Genesis 3:19

As the ashes are placed on a person’s forehead the priest will say “Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.” This translates to “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return. 

It sounds a little dark and dreary, but it is meant to help us reflect on the meaning of life.The phrase is taken from Genesis 3:19 when God casts Adam from the Garden of Eden. It is intended to remind us of our fragile mortality and to reflect on repentance.

In the Catholic faith confronting mortality is not intended to inflict feelings of hopelessness and despair but to encourage us to set our sights on salvation through repentance and trust in God’s mercy.

Although lent reminds of us our sin and inevitable death, it ultimately leads us to the hope of resurrection through Jesus’s passion, death, and resurrection on Easter.

Can I Receive Ashes if I’m not Catholic?

Yes! Ashes are considered an act of penance and not a sacrament. If you are interested in learning more about the tradition, you should attend an Ash Wednesday mass.

However, communion is reserved for Catholics who have completed their first communion.

Our Intentional Ash Wednesday

Attend Ash Wednesday Mass – We start our morning by attending an Ash Wednesday mass and receive our ashes.

Read Genesis Chapter 3 – After mass we will read Genesis Chapter 3 to our kids and ask how the passage relates to mass.

Discuss Abstinence – During lent Catholics 14 years and older abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and every Friday of lent.

Fasting and Prayer – On Ash Wednesday, adults are encouraged to fast by having only 1 large meal and 2 small snacks. We will discuss how both Biblical and non-biblical figures have used fasting for spiritual purification. We will encourage our kids to give up something for Ash Wednesday and learn a new prayer

Faith Formation as a Family

The ashes placed on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday symbolize both the frailty of human life and the promise of renewal. Just as dust signifies death and decay, in Christ, it also becomes the raw material for transformation. Through His passion, death, and resurrection, Jesus does not leave us in our sin; He redeems and restores us, turning what was once lost into something new. This is the heart of Lent—not merely a season of sorrow, but a journey toward Easter, where the dust of our mortality is met with the breath of eternal life.