St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD
February 18, 2026
Ash Wednesday
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Psalm 103
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Cross of Ash, Cross of Oil
Today – Ash Wednesday – is one of the most solemn days of the Church Year.
And it’s also one of the strangest days of the year.
It’s a particularly strange day for priests who, over and over, make a cross of ashes on forehead after forehead, young and old, sick and healthy, telling everyone to remember that someday they – we – are going to die.
But, if that’s all that Ash Wednesday is about, then I don’t think it makes much sense to gather here today.
Most of us probably don’t need to be reminded of our mortality – especially not here, where we have attended funerals for people we have known and loved – especially not here, where we are surrounded by so many who have gone before us, our beloved dead buried in our cemetery, people who lived, loved, lost, rejoiced, wept, hoped.
Just like us.
No, today is not just about being reminded about death.
And in today’s gospel lesson, Jesus warns us against being a religious show-off.
This is the same gospel lesson we always hear on Ash Wednesday, which is a little funny and ironic because today is the only day we bear a physical sign vouching for our church attendance – it’s like an “I Voted” sticker made of ash.
But I doubt that anyone is here today to impress the people who will see our smudge of ash.
Which is a good thing, both because Jesus tells us not to do that and, because nobody “out there” cares that we went to church today.
But rather than a reminder of mortality or a chance to show off, I hope today’s cross of ash will be a reminder of another cross, the cross of oil that we received at our baptism.
You know, baptism is like both Good Friday and Easter.
Just as Jesus died and rose again, our old self dies in the water of baptism and then we are born anew.
And right after our baptism, we are marked on our foreheads with a cross of oil, sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own, forever.
Marked as Christ’s own.
Forever.
There’s nothing that we could ever do or not do – there’s nothing that could ever happen to us – there’s nothing that could ever dissolve God’s bond with us, nothing that could ever break God’s bond with us.
Nothing.
Never.
Ever.
Not even death itself.
So, in a moment, on behalf of the church, I will invite us all to a holy Lent.
And on this solemn and strange day and during this solemn and strange season, yes, we should remember that this life is precious and finite.
We are dust and to dust we shall return.
But let’s also remember the cross of oil that can never be wiped away.
Let’s remember and celebrate God’s bond of love with us – a bond stronger than death, a bond stronger than anything.
Amen.
Posts
