As I was doing my studies on the kings of Israel and Judah, I really failed to realize that Wednesday this week was Ash Wednesday 2023. I was suddenly reminded of Ahab’s so-called repentance before his untimely demise. As a former Roman Catholic turned born-again Christian, I really find Ash Wednesday really hypocritical. I still feel there are some Catholics out there who still insist on “different interpretations” and “same prayer” when it comes to both Catholics and those they call Protestants. I feel like writing this post since the Lenten season has indeed begun.
I grew up in a Roman Catholic family, and I was taught that skipping meat and snacks was necessary. It was taught that skipping snacks and animal meat was necessary. Roman Catholics have their Bible. However, I’d like to ask if they even read their Bible. Reading from a Catholic Bible (such as the Good News Translation or GNT) would show several verses that can’t agree with Catholicism. One of them would be this verse concerning what to eat on holy days or on a Sabbath.
Colossians 2:16-17
So let no one make rules about what you eat or drink or about holy days or the New Moon Festival or the Sabbath. All such things are only a shadow of things in the future; the reality is Christ. (GNT)
They say that Ash Wednesday is in the Bible. They hypocritically insist that I should show them the exact words and verses they can’t do on their part. Instead, they misquote verses and accuse me of misquoting verses. They should take out the plank in their own eye before they remove the speck from my eye and I should do likewise. Remember ashes were covered in the head and not a mere application of ashes on the forehead. To believe that these ashes are meant to forgive sin is absolutely stupid. No, priests don’t forgive sin neither does God forgive through them. That’s all a lie that keeps people in bondage to a false religious system.
It’s hypocritical because it’s a ground for legalism. The Bible already condemned the idea of judging people on what they eat during holy days or New Moon Festival or Sabbath for religious reasons but Roman Catholics still insist on doing it. I even remembered I was spat upon not only for not having cross ash and eating meat on Ash Wednesday. Even after the Bible condemns them for judging people by what they eat or drink in the religious context (although we have the right to judge people who eat and drink stuff unhealthy for them), they still do that. I have my duty not to eat human flesh, rabid animals, garbage, or human waste because it’s for my bodily protection. I also have the duty to abstain from certain foods for health reasons. However, I still have the freedom to eat anything I want as long as I don’t go against God’s Law or anything that harms my body.
I don’t see fasting to be just skipping meat. Want to know what fasting is? It’s not merely abstinence from meat. You can go ahead and abstain from meat but you’re not fasting. Not eating meat for the whole day is not fasting if you had vegetables and seafood for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If you want to fast skip one meal or two. I’m afraid so many people have confused abstinence with fasting. It’s not surprising considering such people think baptism by immersion is unscriptural and they celebrate Lord’s Supper when it’s not evening.
In truth, I find the whole event of Lent to be as hypocritical as the Christmas season. Parents lie about Santa Claus during the Christmas season while teaching their children not to lie. You also have a lot of hypocrisy coming in during Lent. Walking around with an ash mark is also a sign of hypocrisy to announce your fasting. Here’s what the Bible says about fasting and I’ll quote from the GNT once again:
Matthew 6:16-18
And when you fast, do not put on a sad face as the hypocrites do. They neglect their appearance so that everyone will see that they are fasting. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. When you go without food, wash your face and comb your hair, so that others cannot know that you are fasting—only your Father, who is unseen, will know. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.
This doesn’t mean though that if you’re fasting that you can’t tell anyone if you have to. If your friends want to invite you to eat out and you’re fasting then you’re free to tell them. Otherwise, just keep your fasting a secret as much as possible. The idea of wearing that ash mark is already, in some way, telling everyone that you’re fasting and you’re bragging about it. I don’t care if they’re fasting but bragging about it is absolutely forbidden.
What’s worse, do you know that the doctrine of abstaining from meat is actually a doctrine of devils? Here’s the verse taken again from the GNT:
1 Timothy 4:1-3
The Spirit says clearly that some people will abandon the faith in later times: they will obey lying spirits and follow the teachings of demons. Such teachings are spread by deceitful liars, whose consciences are dead as if burnt with a hot iron. Such people teach that it is wrong to marry and to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten, after a prayer of thanks by those who are believers and have come to know the truth.
Even with that verse in their Bibles, Roman Catholics still don’t get that priestly celibacy, and abstaining from certain foods during certain days for religious reasons are satanic doctrines. Some of them still insist that born-again Christians are the ones who are satanic, they still insist priests save souls (never mind all the priestly scandals that have been swept under the rug) and continue to insist on clinging to their Marian devotion. It’s because they have been raised to be Catholic. They feel that they must uphold how they were raised and not question it.
Some false converts also convert to Catholicism because of either emotional appeal, crowd appeal, or because they feel they “found the truth”. Some may have felt Ash Wednesday’s emotional appeal. I’m not a bit surprised at Protestants and Baptists becoming Catholics. You can belong to a Protestant or Baptist church but never been born again (1 John 2:19). I feel some may have converted on Ash Wednesday because they felt like they “found the truth” or were simply awed by the experience. Judas Iscariot followed Jesus for 3 1/2 years and guess what? Judas Iscariot was a shallow seeker. An emotional appeal for 30 pieces of silver won him over. Today, some Baptists and Protestants would betray the Lord Jesus out of emotional appeal. Today, some Baptists and Protestants converted to Catholicism (or any other religion for that matter) just like how Demas was trapped by love for the world.
I believe Ash Wednesday as a door closer to the Mark of the Beast for the New World Order. The Mark of the Beast or 666 is not just merely a mark but it’s associated with one thing: the worship of the Antichrist. It was even punishable by death during the Dark Ages not to get your cross mark on Ash Wednesday. It won’t be long before the Antichrist will finally shows up and the whole world will worship him. It won’t be long before people will gladly accept the mark on either their right hand or their forehead.
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