ASH WEDNESDAY 2026
No and Yes
We begin Lent today with a strange sign: ashes on the forehead.
The Church does not draw a heart, not a flower, but a cross of dust and says:
“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”
It is a brutal message.
It is a no.
No — you are not immortal.
No — you cannot live just any way you want.
No — your impulses are not your master.
And yet this no is really the beginning of a great yes.
1. The reluctant no
It always costs something to say no.
You feel it:
• when someone wants your time, but you must say stop
• when desire tempts and you abstain
• when you do not dare appear to be the boring one
• when you turn off your phone instead of scrolling further
Saying yes in the moment is easy.
You get sympathy.
You are not difficult.
You avoid conflict.
You avoid emptiness.
But what happens?
You say yes, yes, yes —
one more clip,
one more video,
one more desire,
one more distraction.
And afterward?
Not freedom.
Not joy.
But emptiness, fatigue, and fragmentation.
You gave in to the small yes — and lost the great one.
2. The Bible’s Ash Wednesday: God’s no
Today’s readings are merciless:
• The prophet cries: “Rend your hearts, not your garments.”
• The psalmist prays: “Create in me, O God, a clean heart.”
• The apostle says: “Be reconciled to God.”
• The Lord himself: “When you fast, pray, give alms — do it in secret.”
All this is God’s no to a false self.
No to superficiality.
No to self-deception.
No to a life where God is only an idea and not Lord.
God says no — not to crush you, but to rescue you from the illusion that you can save yourself.
3. Lent: three training grounds for the no
Lent teaches us to say no correctly — so that we can say yes correctly.
Fasting — no to the body as master
You skip something you want.
Not for diet.
Not for the pride of discipline.
But so, the body may remember:
you are not a desire with legs — you are a soul with a body.
When you can abstain from food you can also abstain from sin.
Almsgiving — no to possession
Money says: you survive by holding on.
Christ says: you live by giving away.
Almsgiving is a no to fear.
And a yes to God’s providence.
Prayer — no to the illusion of control
Prayer is the hardest.
Not because the words are difficult —
but because you must let go of self-centeredness.
You shut the world out and stand before God.
You say:
I am not the center.
This is Lent’s deepest no.
4. The great yes
Here is the paradox:
Every Christian no is really a greater yes.
• No to desire is a yes to freedom
• No to distraction is a yes to presence
• No to sin is a yes to God
• No to the immediate is a yes to the eternal
The one who never says no becomes a slave.
The one who learns to say no becomes capable of love.
For love is always selective.
To say yes to everything is to love nothing.
5. The secret of the ashes
When today you receive the ashes, the Church does not say:
Try a little harder.
It says:
Repent.
That means:
Change master.
Change direction.
Change yes.
Stop saying yes to what kills you — even if it feels pleasant in the moment.
Begin saying yes to God — even if it feels difficult now.
For on the cross Christ speaks the ultimate no:
no to sin
no to selfishness
no to death
And therefore, he can speak the ultimate yes:
yes to you.
Lent is not a season of pious projects.
It is a “war school” of freedom.
Learn to say the small no every day:
turn off,
abstain,
give,
pray.
And you will discover something:
What first tasted like death
becomes the beginning of life.
Dominik Terstriep S.J.
