Dust with a Soul

Homily for Ash Wednesday, Year B
Joel 2.12-18 Psalm 51 2 Corinthians 5.20-6.2 Matthew 6.1-6, 16-18

If ever there were a day about reality, today is it. There is no way of escaping the very real fact that we are dust, and that at the end of our lives, we will all return to the dust from which we are made. But, we also know that we’re not just dust – we’re dust with a soul, dust fashioned into the image of God. And yet, too often, we look more like a pile of dust and ashes than we look like God himself. And in case we’ve forgotten, today reminds us. Remember … remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return.

But that doesn’t mean we have to be gloomy and sad and wallow in our sinfulness and inadequacies. Yes, today is about reality, but there is more to our reality than the cross of ashes that is put on our foreheads. St. Paul tells us that today is the day of our salvation. Yes, we are dust, but God also became dust to save us from our sins. Yes, we are sinners, but Christ conquered sin and death by his own death and resurrection. Remembering that we are dust only makes a difference if we also remember that we are dust that is fashioned into the image of God, dust that has been given a soul, dust that has been saved from death and given the promise of immortality. We are dust because we are not God. And the God who created us has promised to transform the dust of the earth into the splendor of eternal light.

And so we remember … the ashes on our foreheads remind us that we are not God, that we are dust. But the cross those ashes make is also a reminder … a reminder that even God can transform the dust of the earth and make us like him. “Now is a very acceptable time; … now is the day of our salvation” (2 Cor. 6.2b)