Ash Wednesday which falls on March 2 this year, will once again see the faithful queuing up in our churches to get their forehead marked with ash to remind them of the words first addressed by God to Adam and Eve viz “Remember man that thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return” ( Gen 3: 19).This practice was followed by the early church mainly for penitents who would confess their sins to the bishop, who would sprinkle them with ashes and expel them, just like Adam and Eve were expelled from Paradise. These penitents were later absolved of their sins on Holy Thursday after they completed penance for 40 days of Lent. Today, this practice is obsolete in the church, and instead, we have ashes marked on our forehead only to remind us that we are dust and to dust we shall all return --- a mere symbolism with no religious or liturgical significance. The pandemic has thought us several lessons for the past two years. In such a scenario, the entire exercise of smearing the forehead on Ash Wednesday will be just an exercise in futility and should be discontinued.
