We have come behind closed doors this night. In a few minutes we will have the cross of Christ applied to our foreheads. This ceremony is not for public display. It is for those who love Christ, not for the world outside. This is the one time in the year when we hide our light under a bushel, as it were.

Ash Wednesday could be a dangerous time spiritually. It could be a time when we parade our piety for others to see. How inappropriate that would be. Our Lord said, "Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven . . . And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. Bu…