Ash Wednesday reflection and Amiel's story

Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you will return.

At about 4:20 pm yesterday, a Grade 4 student and his nanny were crossing the street in front of Henry Lee Irwin Theater in the vicinity of the Ateneo Grade School when a van driven by a mother who was fetching her son struck them. Amiel was crushed between the van and a CRV. He died. He was ten years old.

Today is Ash Wednesday, it marks the beginning of Lent, the 40-day preparation to celebrate Easter Triduum and the Easter Season. Today we put ash on our heads, a reminder of the fact that like Amiel, we will die, we will return to dust, and so we must pursue things that would merit us a life after this one. The ash in cross form reminds us that our salvation, eternal life, is only given to us through the cross of Christ, who died and rose again for us, who calls us to leave our sins and believe and live in him. Thus, ash also signifies our commitment to change our lives for the better and to live according to the Gospel.