On Ash Wednesday Selfies

About this sermon

Music written and generously provided by Paul Jernberg. Find out more about his work as a composer here: http://pauljernberg.com This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday and it’s not uncommon on this occasion, in the age of social media, for people to take selfies of themselves with ashes on their foreheads. In fact, there was even a hashtag coined by someone to encourage the practice. And when I saw that this was trending, at least in Catholic circles, I have to admit, I found it a little off putting so I posted something on Facebook saying that it struck me as contrary to the spirit of penance and then I asked if I was wrong about that and there were quite a few responses in the comments both endorsing and opposing my reaction. So, that gave me some more insight into why people think it’s a good idea and why not so I thought it would be worth exploring in a video. But, there’s a risk in commenting on something like this after the fact, because we’re much more likely to attempt to justify what we did or did not do than try to see the arguments or principals objectively. So I’d invite you, if you’re watching this, to try to be as honest and objective as possible and know that I’m not trying to wag my finger at you or condemn anyone for their actions. Instead, I think this is a really important conversation about how we share the faith and evangelize because this is a massive struggle in the Church and so I think it’s really important for us to talk about it even if it means an honest look at our own behaviour.