On Ash Wednesday, we're forced to confront our mortality in a culture that is afraid to talk about death. Peter Walsh, Elizabeth Garnsey, and John Kennedy discuss why this seemingly gloomy occasion is actually one of the most uplifting. Plus, they contemplate what we're attached to and detached from, what giving looks like despite our means, what kind of masks we wear, and how we can reclaim/rethink our reasons for fasting.

Questions for Further Discussion:

Themes and Application

1. Jesus warns against practicing righteousness “to be seen.” In what ways does our culture train us to live performatively?
2. Fasting was described as “detachment that leads to attachment.” What might fasting free you from? What might it open you toward?
3. What does it mean that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”? How does that statement function as both invitation and warning?

Personal Reflection

1. What reward are you secretly hoping for in your spiritual practices: recognition, reassurance, control, belonging?
2. Is there a form of fasting (from food, criticism, noise, distraction, self-judgment) that might deepen your attention to God?
3. If Lent is a season of spiritual medicine, what might God be inviting you to examine or release this year?

Broader Spiritual Considerations

1. Fasting, prayer, and almsgiving were historically communal practices. What would collective fasting look like in a modern parish or society?
2. Ash Wednesday paradoxically brings relief and joy. Why might naming mortality feel freeing rather than depressing?
3. What role does humility play in spiritual awakening? How does remembering we are dust clarify our priorities?

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