Anti #ashtag

When the
famous Ellen DeGeneres Oscar selfie appeared on my Facebook wall on Mardi Gras,
modified with ash crosses, I laughed. But on Ash Wednesday, I began to worry.

The
#ashtag is making its rounds on Twitter and Facebook, accompanied with selfies
from clerics and laypeople alike, but is it contrary to what Catholics hear in
the readings today? “When you
pray, do not be like the
hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in
the synagogues and on street corners so
that others may see them. Amen, I say to
you, they have received their reward.”

Fr. Michael
Wurtz, priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross, explains in the
National Catholic Register that “Ashes should not be viewed primarily as a
tool for evangelization, nor should Catholics wear them publicly for the wrong
reasons. . . .We
do not pray the Mass, for example, so that we can be seen. Our Lord warns
against those who exalt themselves.”

Which
is why I won’t be using the #ashtag today: While the #ashtag can have the
intentions to evangelize, the #ashtag reduces a sacramental to the ephemeral.
We’ve turned away from sin only to turn toward ourselves in our immediate
taking of a selfie after the imposition of ashes.

The
use of ashes in penitential rites has
origins in the Old Testament, and the Church continued to use ashes in its
liturgical practices for the same symbolic meanings of mourning, penance, and
mortality:

Eusebius (260-340), the famous early Church historian,
recounted in his 
The History
of the Church
how an apostate
named Natalis came to Pope Zephyrinus clothed in sackcloth and ashes begging
forgiveness. Also during this time, for those who were required to do public
penance, the priest sprinkled ashes on the head of the person leaving confession.

In the Middle Ages (at least by the time of the eighth
century), those who were about to die were laid on the ground on top of
sackcloth sprinkled with ashes. The priest would bless the dying person with
holy water, saying, “Remember that thou art dust and to dust thou shalt
return.” After the sprinkling, the priest asked, “Art thou content
with sackcloth and ashes in testimony of thy penance before the Lord in the day
of judgment?” To which the dying person replied, “I am content.”
In all of these examples, the symbolism of mourning, mortality and penance is
clear.

Remember,
man, you are dust and to dust you shall return: Such is the seriousness of
these sacramental ashes.