The timing of the gospel reading for today from Matthew is curious, and maybe even conflicting. The message is straightforward and needs little interpretation. But the timing of it coming on Ash Wednesday will hopefully give us pause as we attend our Ash Wednesday services.

The message is simple…love others as yourself, but don’t do it to feed your ego. We are challenged in this reading to do right actions, say right words, and pray rightly, but to do so when others cannot see us, hear us, or recognize us. If we do what is right in this way then our intentions rightly match our actions and words. But, if we do so for the purpose of gaining attention, then the genuineness of our actions does not match our intentions. Perhaps more clearly stated, it's about giving with our intentions more than receiving the attention.

But what are we to make of this on Ash Wednesday? More than perhaps any other day within the Church calendar, we seem to do exactly the opposite of what the Gospel of Matthew says. We attend a church service, receive a clear mark on our heads of what we did, and then go out into the community to show our mark. How do we come to terms with this seeming contradiction of words and actions? I think the answer might be somewhere between our intention and attention for attending the service in the first place.

The Creighton Online Ministries website offers some clarity and guidance on Ash Wednesday and the purpose of receiving ashes on our foreheads. As it so clearly explains, one of the reasons for the ashes is so that we can be a sign and witness to others of God’s love for us. The ashes remind us and others that we have a relationship with a Living God, and part of that relationship is our eventual physical death so that we can rise to new life in God. Hopefully, when are attend the service and throughout the day when looking in the mirror, we ourselves are reminded of that. But what about others we encounter throughout the day? What do they see when they notice the ashes? I think they see the ashes AND see our actions and hear our words all at the same time. If our actions and words do not match the intended message of those ashes, are we being a witness to others of God’s love?

But we don’t need ashes on our forehead to be a sign of God’s love. We can be a witness to God’s love any day of the year. If our actions and our words come from the right intention rather than from a form of gaining attention—then we are a sign of God’s love in the world and one that others can recognize. The ashes we receive on Ash Wednesday are a good reminder for us that we can be a continual sign of God’s love to others, not just on this particular day, but every day so long as we have right intentions.