Significance of Ash Wednesday

Why put ash on people's forehead?

Every year, questions on the significance of Ash Wednesday never stopped popping up. This year's wasn't an exception neither.
Maybe it has happened to you too. In the past it used to frustrate me, but in recent time, I have come to see it as a great opportunity to evangelize, to share with someone about the most important person in my life: Jesus Christ.
Today's Ash event occurred simultaneously with St. Valentine's day celebration.
What a day?
See my post on St. Valentine and it's significance here

photo credit

Various manners of placing the ashes on worshippers' heads are in use within the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, the two most common being to use the ashes to make a cross on the forehead and sprinkling the ashes over the crown of the head.

Unlike strict discipline regarding sacraments, the Catholic Church does not place a ban or hinder Catholics and non-Catholics from receiving Ashes.
Excommunicated Catholics are allowed to receive Ashes. As the Catholic Church doesn't limit the distribution of ashes within the confines of the Church alone rather, nursing homes, hospitals, prisons, orphanage homes amongst others are typical places where Priests are easily seen distributing ashes.

Over forty biblical passages associated ashes with mourning and grief. Typical story to ascertain is seen from the book of Jonah. Jonah was sent by God to preach to the people of Nineveh to repent.

When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

In Old Testament, People used ashes as a sign of repentance. They would sit in ashes, roll around in them, sprinkle them upon their heads, or even mingle them with their food and drink. They did this as an outward sign of their inward posture of repentance. Check out Daniel 9:3-6, for an example.

Ash Wednesday begins Lent, a time when we stop and assess how we’re doing in our walk with God. Lent helps us identify spiritual areas in which we can grow and sinful areas that we need to avoid. To repent, put simply, means to turn away from sin and turn toward God. We use ashes as an outward expression of our need to begin again.

Ash Wednesday reminds us of our sinful human nature and the need with urgency to return to Christ-like attitudinal mindset by virtue of our baptism.

Ash Wednesday also begins preparations for Holy Week and the Passion and Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus.
Exactly Seven (7) Sundays to Easter after Ash Wednesday.
This year's Easter will be on April 1st (Fools day). Lol!!!
Remarkable dates turned memorable Church events dates

...Unto dust we came and unto dust shall we return. Ash Wednesday portrays a perfect opportunity to reflect on our lives and the very fact that the world isn't our permanent home.
Life without Christ is of course marked with crisis.
God Over Everything!!!

God forgives. He loves. And He gives sinners a second chance. Put simply: my God kicks ash.