February 17, 2021: 12pm Holy Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes at Washington National Cathedral

[Music] me [Music] [Music] easy [Music] r [Music] r [Music] see [Music] oh [Music] jesus so you let us pray almighty and everlasting gods you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness may obtain of you the god of all mercy perfect remission and forgiveness through jesus christ our lord who lives and reigns with you in the holy spirit one god forever and ever amen a reading from the prophet joel blow the trumpet in zion sound the alarm on my holy mountain let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the lord is coming it is near a day of darkness and gloom a day of clouds and thick darkness like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes their like has never been from of old nor will be again after them in ages to come yet even now says the lord return to me with all your heart with fasting with weeping and with mourning rend your hearts and not your clothing return to your to the lord your god for he is gracious and merciful slow to anger and abounding and steadfast love and relents from punishing who knows whether he will not turn and relent and leave a blessing behind him a grain offering and a drink offering for the lord your god blow the trumpet in zion sanctify a fast call a solemn assembly gather the people sanctify the congregation assemble the aged gather the children even infants at the breast let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her canopy between the vestibule and the altar let the priests the ministers of the lord weep let them say spare your people o lord and do not make your heritage a mockery a byword among the nations why should it be said among the peoples where is their god the word of the lord [Music] so the lord is full of compassion and mercy slow to anger and of great kindness he will not always accuse us nor will he keep his anger forever he has not dealt with us according to our sins nor rewarded us according to our wickedness for as the heavens are high above the earth so is his mercy great upon those who fear him [Music] as far as the east is far from the worst so far has he removed our sins from mars as a father cares for his children so does the lord care for those who fear him for himself knows where we are made he remembers that we are but [Music] a reading from the second letter of saint paul to the corinthians we entreat you on behalf of christ be reconciled to god for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of god as we work together with him we urge you also not to accept the grace of god in vain for he says at an acceptable time i have listened to you and on the day of salvation i have helped you see now is the acceptable time see now is the day of salvation we are putting in no obstacle in anyone's way so that no fault may be found with our ministry but as servants of god we have commended ourselves in every way through great endurance and afflictions hardships calamities beatings imprisonments riots labors sleepless nights hunger by purity knowledge patience kindness holiness of spirit genuine love truthful speech and the power of god with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left in honor and dishonor and ill repute and good repute we are treated as imposters and yet are true as unknown and yet are well known as dying and see we are alive as punished and yet not killed as sorrowful yet always rejoicing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing and yet possessing everything the word of the lord [Music] ah [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] god [Music] oh is [Music] recompense jesus said beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them for then you have no reward from your father in heaven so whenever you give alms do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may be praised by others truly i tell you they have received their reward but when you give alms do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your arms may be done in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you and whenever you pray do not be like the hypocrites for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners so that they may be seen by others truly i tell you they have received their reward but whenever you pray go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you and whenever you fast do not look dismal like the hypocrites for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting truly i tell you they have received their reward but when you fast put oil on your head and wash your face so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your father who is in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth but where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also the gospel of the lord praise to you lord christ i ask your prayers this afternoon in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit amen the late 19th century polish rabbi used to say everyone must have two pockets so that he can reach into the one or the other according to his needs on a slip of paper in his right pocket are the words for my sake was the world created and in his left i am but dust and ashes hubris on the right humility on the left these last few months i've asked myself what is this this all about anyway does it possess meaning and value and does it translate through a screen i mean the church and its trappings what we're doing here in the context of a pandemic when we cannot gather in person and reenact or tactile sacred rituals it breaks my heart that we cannot smudge your foreheads this year and then i wonder how might it impact you for us to smear your forehead and say remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return when two and a half million people globally have died from complications of the virus how does this phrase land for you this year for your family for the world this ennui has also forced me to consider what the clergy and church folk like myself have to offer in the big scheme of life and how our relationship and journey with christ can at one moment translate into grace and mercy for your lives or just the opposite pain and woundedness is it hubris to think that the world was created so that we could either heal it or hurt it probably so the message that keeps coming to me is that we've lost our grounding literal human feet touching this earthly plane as a community of faith our virtual connections have led to disconnections of the heart they are rent i fear that we've become strangers to our own hearts as well strangers because we're exiled to our homes living virtually not sacramentally for almost a year now we've stared at one another through a screen not as if through a glass darkly literally through a glass no physical contact no sharing of the piece no bread on one's palm or wine on one's lips no ashes smeared on one's head no laying of hands no ointing no anointing with oil no monday thursday washing of feet even our funerals and burials of loved ones or through a screen a window or distanced six feet apart i myself spent new year's eve administering last rites to a 46 year old man and beloved congregation member through a plate of glass and over a walkie walkie-talkie every emotion every word every thought is transmitted through a machine no wonder we're hurt no wonder we're estranged from one another where are the ashes the humans from mother earth when we need them desperately to ground ourselves and to one another theologically ashes are a reminder of our humility our mortality our desiccated nothingness without god our finiteness our futility they are remnants of something burned away a sign that a purifying fire has passed over and through but they are not to be regarded as some kind of waste product the slag of the soul they are powerful reminders of whose we are gods with god's hands and god's spit in his life-giving breath god formed the first human from the dust of the earth and without the spirit of god breathing eternity into us we are but topsoil vulnerable to scattering in the wind in our tradition after one is baptized the celebrant anoints the candidate with chrism oil making the sign of the cross on their wet forehead and proclaiming you are sealed by the holy spirit in baptism and marked as christ sown forever for me this is one of the most meaningful and beautiful gestures i'm privileged to offer in my vocation as a priest i like to tell my baptismal candidates and their families that this invisible tattoo marks them for eternity as i see it this is the alpha event the beginning that jesus claims in the book of revelation the seventh chapter of the book of revelation describes a great multitude two immense to fathom that gathers before the throne and the lamb with palm branches in their hands they sing and worship god until they fall prostrate on their faces an elder asked john of patmos who they are and he answers these are they who have come out of the great ordeal they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb they will hunger no more and thirst no more and god will wipe away every tear from their eyes in my heart i know that the cross that was sealed on their baptisms is still there indented and stained by years of ash in my imagination christ jesus shines a black light across the sea of humanity and their tattoos glow fluorescent invisible to the human eye but not to the lamb who proclaims for my sake was the world created and saved my friends do not despair for those of you who are newly baptized this past year the invisible indentation left on your foreheads when you were sealed by the holy spirit still glows and for you who faithfully kneeled or stood before us in a posture of vulnerable repentance for years the worn grooves on your foreheads still bear witness the ruts are familiar to the ash-bearing thumbs of the priests who've stood before you you have earned those imprints of an ashen cross the furrows signify a life well worn well lived and well loved perhaps right now to begin this semblance of healing and connection we should make the cross on ourselves make the sign of the cross and say those familiar words you are but dust into dust you shall return go ahead cross yourself with your thumb feel the shape of your tracing both with the tip of your thumb and on the canvas of your forehead listen to those words they are a valuable reminder that you are connected to god into me and i to you and nothing nothing can stop the transmission of the power of love not through glass not through distance not through a screen or even a faulty router and now i want you to imagine yourself even if you have to shut your eyes imagine yourself standing before our god before creator son and holy spirit jesus christ takes that black like wand and waves it at your face not only does your fluorescent baptismal tattoo shine brightly but the furrows of the crosses that have been imprinted on your forehead all these years of ash wednesdays are valuable and visible too all the years when you came forward to lay your sins and shortcomings at the altar some years failing some years with success rest assured your vulnerable witness has etched your name in the book of life this deep swipe seals you as christ's own forever dust to dust ashes to ashes alpha to omega amen dear people of god the first christians observed with great devotion the days of our lord's passion and resurrection and it became the custom of the church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting this season of lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for holy baptism it was also a time when those who because of notorious sins had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness and restored to the fellowship of the church thereby the whole congregation was put in the mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the gospel of our savior and of the need which all christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith i invite you therefore in the name of the church to the observance of a holy lent by self-examination and repentance by prayer fasting and self-denial and by reading and meditating on god's holy word and to make a right beginning of repentance and as a mark of our mortal nature let us kneel if you were able before the lord our maker and redeemer almighty god you have created us out of the dust of the earth grant that these ashen's ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence and that we may remember that it is only by your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life through jesus christ our savior amen [Music] according to your kindness in your great compassion [Music] for i know my transgressions and my sin is never before me i'm so you are justified when you speak and not right in your judgement [Music] for behold you look for truth deep within me and will make me understand wisdom secretly us that's the body you have broken marriages [Music] in is a clean heart for god and renew our right spirit within trust me most holy and merciful father we confess to you and to one another and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth that we have sinned by our own fault in thought word and deed by what we have done and by what we have left undone we have not loved you with our whole heart and mind and strength we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves we have not forgiven others as we have been forgiven have mercy on us lord we have been deaf to your call to serve as christ served us we have not been true to the mind of christ we have grieved your holy spirit have mercy on us lord we confess to you lord all our past unfaithfulness the pride hypocrisy and impatience of our lives we confess to you lord our self-indulgent appetites and ways and our exploitation of other people we confess to you lord our anger at our own frustration and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves we confess to you lord our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts and our dishonesty in daily life and work we confess to you lord our negligence in prayer and worship and our failure to commend the faith that is in us we confess to you lord accept our repentance lord for the wrongs we have done for our blindness to human need and suffering and for our indifference to injustice and cruelty accept our repentance lord for all false judgments for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors and for prejudice and contempt towards those who differ from us accept our repentance lord for our waste and pollution of your creation and our lack of concern for those who come after us accept our repentance lord restore us good lord and let your anger depart from us favorably hear us for your mercy is great accomplish in us the work of your salvation that we may show forth your glory in the world by the cross and passion of your son our lord bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection almighty god the father of our lord jesus christ who desires not the death of sinners but rather that they may turn from their wickedness and live has given power and commandment to his ministers to declare and pronounce to his people being penitent the absolution and remission of their sins he pardons and absolves all those who truly repent and with sincere hearts believe his holy gospel therefore we beseech him to grant us true repentance and his holy spirit that those things may please him which we do on this day and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure and holy so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy through jesus christ our lord amen the peace of the lord be always with you and also good afternoon and welcome to washington national cathedral on this ash wednesday my name is randy hollereth i'm the dean of the cathedral and we are honored that you would worship with us this afternoon thank you for being a part of our cathedral family i hope that this liturgy will mark the beginning for you of a wonderful and meaningful lenten journey as we walk with jesus during his 40 days in the wilderness and then move with him to jerusalem and from and once in jerusalem walk with him to the cross and then stand by the tomb blessings to you in this journey may our lord walk with you now remember the words of our lord jesus christ who said it is more blessed to give than to receive [Music] how can you forgive me when i've often gone astray how can you think of me when i do things my way turning my back to the one who loved me first having my own desires renewing my worldly first you told me you loved me and i should make up my mind you tell me come back now but i keep wasting time feeling so very weak you say i can be strong i feel i've gone too far you tell me to come home you loved me still [Music] and i know this is real and i am running back to you i see you standing there for me your arms are open wide and i don't have to cry no more you're standing there for me and i am running back why do i go away when i know i am no good when i'm on my own you told me you'd keep i failed you so much now i don't know what to say using the same excuse that i am just a man you tell me you've been there and hold your nails [Music] i see you standing there for me your arms are open wide and i know i see that you are standing there for me and i am running back to you why do i go away when i know that i'm no good i have taken advantage of your love your grace forgive me lord and take me take me to you jesus please take me home you see i've been in this room for way too long and i can't do right anymore so i'm tired of pain and i don't like fear but lord i want to be more sincere i never have left your [Music] and you're standing there for me why did i go away when i know that i'm no good when i'm on my own [Music] [Music] the lord be with you and daughter also with you lift up your hearts lord let us give thanks to the lord is right our god god thanks and praise god it is right and a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you father almighty creator of heaven and earth through jesus christ our lord who was tempted in every way as we are yet did not sin by his grace we are able to triumph over every evil and to live no longer for ourselves alone but for him who died for us and rose again therefore we praise you joining our voices with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven who forever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your name oh [Music] is [Music] sorry holy and gracious father in your infinite love you made us for yourself and when we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death you in your mercy sent jesus christ your only and eternal son to share our human nature to live and die as one of us to reconcile us to you the god and father of all he stretched out his arms upon the cross and offered himself an obedience to your will a perfect sacrifice for the whole world on the night he was handed over to suffering and death our lord jesus christ took bread and when he had given thanks to you he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said take eat this is my body which is given for you do this for the remembrance of me after supper he took the cup of wine and when he had given thanks he gave it to them and said drink this all of you this is my blood of the new covenant which was shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins whenever you drink it do this for the remembrance of me therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith christ has died christ is risen christ will come again we celebrate the memorial of our redemption o father in this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving recalling his death resurrection and ascension we offer you these gifts sanctify them by your holy spirit to be for your people the body and blood of your son the holy food and drink of new and unending life in him sanctify us also that we may faithfully receive this holy sacrament and serve you in unity constancy and peace and at the last day bring us with all your saints into the joy of your eternal kingdom all this we ask through your son jesus christ by him and with him and in him in the unity of the holy spirit all honor and glory is yours almighty father now and forever amen amen and now as our savior christ hath taught us we are bold to say our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever amen [Music] is [Music] mercedes [Music] the gifts of god for the people of god take them in remembrance that christ died for you and feed on him in your hearts by faith with thanksgiving let us join our voices in prayer my jesus i believe that you are truly present in the blessed sacrament of the altar i love you above all things and long for you in my soul since i cannot receive you in the sacrament of your body and blood come spiritually into my heart cleanse and strengthen me with your grace let me never be separated from you may i live in you and you in me in this life and in the life to come [Music] [Music] oh [Music] me [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] is [Music] foreign oh us [Music] is [Music] righteousness [Applause] [Music] uh [Music] is [Music] me [Music] foreign [Music] so praying together almighty god you have given your only son to be for us both the sacrifice for sin and an example of godly life give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive these spiritual gifts and daily endeavor to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life through jesus christ our lord amen let us bow down before the lord grant most merciful lord to your faithful people pardon and peace that they may be cleansed from all their sins and serve you with a quiet mind through jesus christ our lord [Music] amen [Music] um is [Music] oh and [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] my [Music] let us bless the lord thanks be to god so thank you is you

Channel: Washington National Cathedral

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Length: 72min 10sec (4330 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 17 2021