Ashes on the forehead, marks of penitence, call us to remember our impermanence; outward signs intended for the heart to learn: from dust we each came forth and to dust return. On each brow a cross rests, stark or barely shown, yet we who see others' cannot see our own. So we are reminded with fresh urgency how our life as Christians needs community. Each cross bears a shadow cast by distant light at Lent's far horizon, where we train our sight: there the true Sun rises beyond Calvary and death's hold is broken by Life's victory. To that feast and triumph we will set our gaze as we fast and journey through these forty days. Savior, whose temptation shaped and proved your call, use these days of testing to renew us all.