Answer: Ashes are not a sacrament and do not signify communion of faith beyond a need for repentance and a remembrance of mortality. Therefore, it is indeed acceptable for someone who is not Catholic to receive ashes on Ash Wednesday if they so choose.
It is a mortal (grave) sin to miss Mass on those days, and if one has missed Mass on a holy day of obligation (unless it was for a very serious reason), one must go to Confession before receiving the Eucharist again.
During this period, Christians show repentance and mourning for their sins, because they believe Christ died for them. When the priest applies the cross of ashes, he says to the worshiper: "“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” He also may say “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”
Ash Wednesday — officially known as the Day of Ashes — is a day of repentance, when Christians confess their sins and profess their devotion to God.
Unlike its discipline regarding sacraments, the Catholic Church does not exclude anyone from receiving sacramentals, such as the placing of ashes on the head, even those who are not Catholics and perhaps not even baptized.
Cremation does not “prevent God, in his omnipotence, from raising up the deceased body to new life,” the Vatican says, but it does raise the possibility that the deceased's body, which the church believes is sacred, will not be properly respected by ancestors and relatives.
A: In the Bible, cremation is not labeled a sinful practice. Frankly, the topic is not dealt with at all in terms of the detailed lists of instructions for living and dying set forth by almighty God in the Old and New testaments. The short answer to your question appears to be no, cremation is not a sin.
Is it a sin to not get ashes on Ash Wednesday? Some people believe that it is a sin to miss receiving ashes on this day. Some even believe that one would not go to heaven if he or she were not marked with blessed ashes. Neither is true.
On Ash Wednesday, Pope Francis called on Catholics to go to Confession during Lent to experience God's healing love. "We can receive God's forgiveness in the sacrament of Penance because there the fire of God's love consumes the ashes of our sin.
Having committed MURDER or participated in the destruction of lives, including embryos and mercy-killing or euthanasia. Having committed acts of violence, physical, verbal, psychological abuse against other persons and their integrity.
What do you say when you get ashes on Ash Wednesday? The ashes placed on one's forehead are a symbol of that. As the priest applies them in a cross formation on someone's forehead, they will say either, “Turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel” or “Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.”
There is no requirement to keep ashes on the forehead all day or for any period of time after they are given, but many Christians choose to keep them on their foreheads throughout the day on Ash Wednesday.
You don't need to receive Holy Communion when attending Mass, which is why going to confession is not a “strict” requirement for basic attendance. Furthermore, if you are only conscience of venial sins on your soul, you are permitted to receive Holy Communion, even if you don't go to confession.
It is not a mortal sin not to go to confession during the Easter season. Not to go to confession hardly could be sinful at any time. The purpose of confession is to unburden yourself of moral guilt and free yourself from sin. If you are not thus burdened, be grateful, not anxious.
In common practice (though not required), the bishops of the United States ask Catholics to go to confession once during Lent and once during Advent. Lent and confession go hand in hand in two ways. The former is the season of conversion, and the latter is one of the greatest means of conversion.
Others, on the first day of Lent, pledge to give up sinful behaviours, such as using profanity, and hope to permanently rid themselves of these habits even after the arrival of Eastertide.
Ash Wednesday is not a Holy Day of Obligation for Roman Catholics, yet receiving ashes is a universal practice among Christians to begin their Lenten journeys. Most Catholic parishes offer Ash Wednesday Mass, and in some places, it is possible to receive ashes without attending Mass.
Also, on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and all Fridays during Lent, adult Catholics over the age of 14 abstain from eating meat. During these days, it is not acceptable to eat lamb, chicken, beef, pork, ham, deer and most other meats. However, eggs, milk, fish, grains, and fruits and vegetables are all allowed.
The ashes symbolize penance and the dust from which God made people. When priests mark Christian's forehead with the ashes they often say, “Repent and believe in the Gospel,” or “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
On Ash Wednesday, Catholics and many other Christians will have ashes applied to their foreheads in the shape of a cross. People generally wear the ashes — which symbolize penance, mourning and mortality — throughout the day to publicly express their faith and penance.
The ash cross marking observers' foreheads is meant to represent mortality and penance for their sins. It is applied by a priest during a morning mass, often along with a small blessing: "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return." Many choose to keep it on all day.
No matter what a person's preference is, from the Christian perspective, cremation does not prevent one from going to Heaven. So there's no need to worry, if God can create life from dust, surely he can restore life from ashes.
In 2 Kings 23:16-20, Josiah took the bones out of the tomb, burned them on the altar, and “defiled it.” However, nowhere in the Old Testament does the Bible command the deceased cannot be burned, nor are there any judgments attached to those that have been cremated.
The average cremated adult will produce about five pounds of pulverized bone fragments, a coarse powder that is sterile and safe to touch, even if the person died of a communicable disease.