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Ash Wednesday • Year C
March 5, 2025
Click on black & white clipart (above left) or color photo-graphic (above) to view and download full resolution graphics for use on bulletin covers. Tutorials available. Image
Historical Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent. Create in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain from you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, 1549)
Thematic Collect
Merciful God, turn our hearts toward you, bringing us to repentance. Through your great mercy, grant us clean hearts and renew in us a right spirit; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.
The Common Thread
Fasting, almsgiving, and other religious acts are part of our faith practice. Putting on a show about it is not. What we ought to broadcast is that Christ, who did not experience sin, became sin for us. He became our sin so that our righteousness would not exist in religious show, but instead, in him. We who believe have become the very righteousness of God through Christ. He has thoroughly washed away our sin and created clean hearts within us; our pious actions do not. Rending our hearts and returning to the Lord may only be done by confessing our sin and relying in faith upon the incarnate God who took upon himself our sins, and the sin of the world.
First Reading • Joel 2:12-19
It is easy to get an ashen cross on our foreheads, more difficult to tear our garments, and even more challenging to rend our hearts. That is what the Lord wants from us—and not just on Ash Wednesday. We are always to return to the Lord with our whole hearts. But Lent is a special time in the Church year for us to search ourselves and see how we may have wandered off the path. It is a time for the congregation to dedicate itself to following the Lord.
Psalm • Psalm 51:1-13, 14-19
Today’s culture wants to redefine sin in order that they might convince themselves that they do not sin. Blessed is that person who knows what sin is and is willing to confess it to the Lord. The wise person understands that he was born with a sin nature, that he was “brought forth in iniquity.” Only God can cleanse us of our sins. We cannot do so by calling sin something other than what it is.
Second Reading • 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
All people are called to be reconciled to God. This happens when a person has faith in Christ, who died for our sins. We cannot be justified to God in any other way. It will not happen because we are good enough, kind enough, generous enough, loving enough, or pure enough. We are made righteous through faith, for Christ’s sake—not because we have earned his mercy and grace.
Gospel • Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
We are God’s workmanship, reborn and created in Christ for good works. We should do good works but we should never put our righteousness on display. If at all possible, all good deeds should be done secretly. If they must be seen by others, we are not to bring undue attention to ourselves. Every deed should be done as though it were being done for the Lord (Col 3:23). That way, even if something is done for another, because it is done in secret for the Lord, the Father who sees our secret works and hears our secret prayers, will reward us with the blessings of heaven.
SMALL INSERT FULL TEXTS: This version of the small insert has the full texts for Ash Wednesday, rather than the truncated version found on the left side of this page. It includes instructions for copying.
Why the Ashes? PDF explanation of why the church uses ashes on Ash Wednesday
Burning of the Palms for Ashes (PDF of instructions for preparing dried palms into ashes)
Rite for Burning of Palms (short rite to use in a small group to prepare ashes)
Liturgy for Confession and the Imposition of Ashes (PDF - service handout)
Ash Wednesday Bulletin Template (docx file - formatted for printing back to back)
Resources
Links to Worship Resources for this Service
