“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

These words are spoken over us as we receive ashes on our heads to mark the beginning of the Lenten season. The burned branches turned into ash are placed at the front and center of our physical bodies to remind the world that there is something more than this world. Ultimately, these ashes are a reminder of our own death and the need for Christ to increase and for us to decrease.

Reflecting on the reality of one’s certain death can sound morbid. Isn’t it sad to think about the fact that we are going to die, along with everyone else that we know and love? Lent does not invite us to consider our death to bring about anxiety and despair. Jesus invites us to consider our death in light of his death and resurrection, which won the victory over death itself.

“Christ has gained for us not only new dignity in our life on earth, but above all the new dignity of the children of God, called to share eternal life with him. Lent invites us to overcome the temptation of seeing the realities of this world as definitive and to recognize that ‘our homeland is in heaven’ (Philippians 3:20),” St. John Paul II reminded us in his 1999 Lenten message.

Every movement of Lent is meant to steer us towards Golgotha and the empty tomb. We cannot arrive at the Resurrection without Calvary.

The ashes are meant to move our hearts heavenward.

First, it is unavoidable to miss ashes as a mark on our heads — and they should prompt reflection on mortality and the promise of eternal life. This Lent, let us be moved by the fragility of life to make Christ more central in our daily interactions. The entire season is a call from the heart of God for us to do exactly that.

Second, ashes are dirty and messy. Death is ugly, too. We were not created to die. It is not supposed to be this way. The cross of Christ was messy. There was blood and mangled flesh. There were tears and cries of agony. Jesus died by slowly suffocating to death for three hours — his body was stripped of its blood and breath.

We all have messy aspects of our lives. We all sin. We all treat others imperfectly and fail to live out our relationship with God how we should. The mess of Calvary communicates to us that Jesus is not afraid of our mess. Our death is a guarantee, but it should not scare us for this exact reason. Faced with our own mortality, Jesus knows what we will go through and he desires to be intimately close with us.

This Lent, accept the invitation to have a “deathbed mentality.” Consider your death in light of Jesus’ passion, for it was his love that motivated his willingness to suffer. Then offer your sacrifices out of love for him while striving toward eternal life. Consider offering your sacrifices for those who are sick, including the Pope, and suffering around the world as well as closer to home.

As Pope Francis reminds us in his 2025 Lenten message: “Indeed, Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, is the heart of our faith and the pledge of our hope in the Father’s great promise, already fulfilled in his beloved Son: life eternal.”