Holy Communion
8.00pm, Nether Winchendon
This
day marks the first day of Lent. At the service, ashes from last year’s Palm
Crosses, which have been burnt, are gently put on the forehead in the sign of a
cross (only for those who wish it). Ashes are a very ancient symbol of
penitence. They also remind us of our mortality; that the end of our human
journey is the dust of death. We have
all, in the words of the Prayer Book, ‘erred and strayed like lost sheep. We
have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have
offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things we ought to
have done and have done those things which we ought not to have done’.
Penitence involves a change of heart and a turning again towards God in whom
alone is our healing and our wholeness.
