Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant Hapus! (for tomorrow)
It is also the beginning of the great feast of Lent, as our sisters and brothers from the Orthodox Easter call it, as well as sometimes 'the Lenten Spring'. For some of us in the Christian west, we get so plugged in to giving things up, particularly things that we like in a spirit of discipline and self-denial, that we miss out on the fact that Lent could be the beginning of new life or at least the opportunity to create space for new perspectives.
Like many others, I will mark people with the sign of the cross with the word: remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return: turn away from your sin, and be faithful to Christ.
Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return are words that embrace both our mortality as well as our connectedness with the created order. We are dusty people. The marking with the cross in ash confirms our frailty, and the fact that the ash is created from the palm crosses blessed in the midst of celebrating the euphoria of Jesus entering Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) points towards the closeness of dustiness and glory.
Ash is created by fire giving this year a link to the ddraig goch (red dragon) the symbol of Wales (I know tenuous, but probably not as tenuous as some of the links made in some of my sermons). St David called those who believed in Christ because of him to be faithful in the little things.
Lent is a good time to begin such faithfulness.
Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. Turn away from your sin and be faithful to Christ.
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