#  Ash Wednesday Homily  

 





February 18, 2026

 

 

- [ Blog ](/news-categories/blog)
 
 

 

 ![The Rev. Dr. Calvon Jones gives the benediction from the pulpit on Ash Wednesday.](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/2026-02/260218AshWednesday3.jpg)

 

*The Rev. Dr. Calvon Jones gives the Benediction during the Ash Wednesday service at the Memorial Church. Photos by Jeffrey Blackwell/Memorial Church Communications.*

*By The Dr. Calvon Jones*  
*Assistant Minister/Director*  
*The Memorial Church of Harvard University*

**Marked by Love, Made of Dust**

Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21

Today is Ash Wednesday.  
Across centuries and continents, Christians have begun this season the same way: a thumb dipped in ashes, a cross traced on a waiting forehead, and words spoken that are ancient and honest: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Those words tell the truth about us. Beneath our accomplishments and titles, beneath our carefully managed lives, we are dust held together by the breath of God. We are finite. We are fragile. We are not self-made or self-sustaining.

   ![The Rev. Alanna Sullivan places ashes on the forehead of the Rev. Dr. Calvon Jones.](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/2026-02/260218AshWednesday1.jpg?itok=pFt79yP_) 

 

The ashes do not shame us. They steady us. They return us to reality. They remind us that we are made of dust. And yet, the ashes are traced in the shape of a cross. Which means we are not only made of dust. We are marked by love.  
Lent begins here — in the tension of those two truths. Made of dust. Marked by love.

For forty days, we journey with Jesus toward the cross. Not as spectators, but as companions. It is a path shaped by love — love that knows hunger and temptation, grief and betrayal, suffering and loss. Love that stays when walking away would be easier. Lent strips away illusion and reveals what lasts. Dust returns to dust. But love endures.  
In Matthew 6, Jesus warns us: “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them.”

Ash Wednesday is not about performance. It is about return. Return to the God who formed us from dust. Return to the love that marked us before we ever performed for it. And above all the noise, the forecasts, the fear, the clamor of our age – there is still a voice calling: “Return to me with all your heart…”

  
In the words of poet Amy Vaughan,   
“The gracious One,  
slow to anger,  
rich in steadfast love,  
calls us to rend our hearts  
and gather young and old.  
And in a world of gloomy skies and ash-lined faces,  
the question rises:  
What kind of love is this,  
that perseveres in spite of loss?  
It is the kind of love that invites the weary in.  
The kind that consoles the ones who weep.  
The kind that answers without words.  
That is the love that marks us.”

And because we are made of dust, we need that love. Because we are marked by love, we are sent to embody it. Lent does not simply ask, “What will you give up?” It asks something deeper:

How will you love? How will you live as someone who is marked by love, even while made of dust?  
Will you repair what is broken?  
Will you forgive when resentment feels stronger?  
Will you choose justice over convenience?  
Will you stay present when it would be easier to withdraw?

We often lead with strength. We prefer to show what makes us impressive. But love begins with honesty:  
This is where I am fragile.  
This is where I fall short.  
This is where I need grace.  
That is dust.  
And still — God loves us.  
That is love.

Ash Wednesday reminds us that we are dust — but not abandoned dust. We are dust shaped by God’s hands. Dust breathed into by divine breath. Dust traced with the cross of Christ.

Made of dust.  
Marked by love.

The journey to the cross is steep. It will ask something of us. It will ask for surrender — the letting go of illusion, control, and pride.

But here is the good news: When you receive ashes tonight, you are not receiving a symbol of shame. You are receiving a sign of belonging.

You are made of dust.  
And you are marked by love.

You were made from God.  
And God is love.

Amen.

 ![Memorial Church clergy recess following Ash Wednesday Service.](/sites/g/files/omnuum7126/files/2026-02/260218AshWednesday4.jpg)

 



 

 

 



 

 See also:- [ Sunday Service ](/blog-categories/sunday-service)
- [ Calvon Jones ](/media-archive/calvon-jones)
- [ Sermon ](/archive/sermons)
- [ Lent ](/sermon-topics/lent-0)
 
 

 Share on:- [     Facebook ](#)
- [     Twitter ](#)
- [     Linkedin ](#)