It is believed to have been introduced by Pope Gregory I and dates back as early as the 8th century AD. Ashes are a symbol of sacred sacramental (as a sacred offering to God) by the blessing of the Church to help one develop the spirit of humility.

Method of Ash Wednesday is expressed in violet. Violet depicts dignity, royalty and repentance. Thus we express our feelings and recognize Jesus as King of Kings. Lent begins with the imposition of ashes, an ancient symbol of penance common in the Old Testament and pagan antiquity. Jesus alludes to it when he condemns the cities of Bethsaida and Chorazin for not doing penance (Math.11:21)

Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting. On this day many Churches and their believers put ash collected from previous years palm leaves on their forehead.

In the Bible a mark on the forehead is a symbol of a person’s ownership. By having their forehead marked with the sign of the Cross, this symbolizes that the person belongs to Jesus Christ, who died on the Cross. This is in imitation of the spiritual mark or seal that is put on a Christian in baptism, when he is delivered from slavery to sin and the devil, and made a slave of righteousness and Christ. (Rom.6:3-18)

? 1 Sam.4:12
? 2 Sam.1:20
? 2 Sam. 13:19
? 2 Sam. 15:32

Another symbolic meaning of ashes- they also remind us of death and our mortality. Thus when the priest uses his thumb to put a sign on one of the faithful with the ashes, he says, “Remember, man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return,” which is modeled after God’s address to Adam, (Gen.3:19, cf Job 34:14, Ps.90:3, 104:29, Eccl.3:20) and Abraham’s confession, “I am nothing but dust and ashes” (Gen.18:27). It is thus a reminder of our mortality and our need to repent before this life is over and we face our judgement.

The ashes are made by burning palm fronds which have been saved from previous year’s Palm Sunday, they are then blessed by a Priest – blessed ashes having been used in God’s rituals since the time of Moses (Num. 19:9-10, 17)

Putting ashes on the forehead is a fitting and visible spiritual reminder that encourages one to adopt an attitude of prayer, repentance and humility. As James said, ‘Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:10)

In biblical religion, the concept of holiness of God is of paramount importance. It signifies his unblemished righteousness as well as his singular and radiant majesty. The Holy one can not have communion with the unholy: Sinful humans can only approach him if they are sanctified, i.e., made to correspond to his holiness (Leviticus 19:2-Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy. In the OT, the term sanctification is primarily a technical term of cult ritual. It connotes both cleansing e.g. the washing of garments in preparation for an encounter with God’s presence, (Ex.19:10,14- 10And the Lord said unto Moses, go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, (14). And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes and consecration, dedication to the service of God of priests, of vestments, cult implements, Ex.19: 22; However, in the Old Testament the meaning of sanctification and holiness also extends beyond the ritual to the moral sphere.

The solemn act of setting apart of God’s chosen one is been celebrated. It is one of the offices of the ministry of the Church.

What is chosen is separated, set apart, taken out of the rest. Wherever there is such a choosing there is a decision and a commitment. The more solomn the choice the more solomn the decision. “Choose you this day, whom ye will serve” Joshua 24:15. What is chosen is set apart by an act of commitment for a definite purpose God’s choice of us is always with a view to put us to a specific task.

It is well at this time that we remind ourselves of three factors-the setting apart, the commitment and the purpose. In this choosing in which all of us as God’s people, God’s chosen one and God Himself are all involved. What is chosen is chosen from , chosen by and chosen for. “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you may go and bear fruit and that your fruit may abide”.
This setting apart is a procedure fraught with danger. We have a tendency to literally separate our ministers from other Christian people. We tend to build a wall of separation between the clergy and the laity. The wrong notion creeps inside the understanding. And people say to themselves: We are not set apart, they are. The Laity the people of God, the members of the body of Christ, permit themselves a great deal of freedom to do things, which the minister is not supposed to do. As for the ministers, we have set apart, now it is their job to run the Church.

On the other hand, the clergy also begin to regard themselves as some how different. So the sin of Pharisaism creeps into the Church of Christ. The clergy fall prey to the temptation of assuming prerogatives and privileges as against the laity. Like the Church, its ministers too are not of the world, but in the world. That is where we ministers and laity alike, should be involved in the everyday concerns of life, in villages and factories, in public offices and in the market place.

Having said this, it is nevertheless true that our chosen one is indeed set apart for the ministry- the ministry of Word, the sacraments and Administration. The chosen one is called to exercise a special function. He needs the gift of God’s grace in a special way. One is and will be increasingly in need of God’s grace in one’s ministry we also make a decision to uphold them in our prayers, to stand by them in one’s hour of need, to encourage one in one’s evdeavour to be faithful. Thus one needs to commit oneself, give oneself up as it was, to be obedient to one’s calling.

There are three heavy responsibilities of one’s high office of which we should remind one not only at this hour, but all through the years of service and vocation of one’s ministry.

First comes the duty of interpreting God’s Word to His people. The Church today is in need of a teaching ministry. Generation of young people are growing up without knowledge of the Word of God. So many of our ministers neglect the responsibility of making the Word of God in the Scriptures meaningful and relevant to the circumstances of life in which they live.

Our Lord’s charge to the apostle Peter was “Feed my Lambs, feed my Sheep” Jn.21:15-17 Time changes and so do the conditions under which people live.

Secondly-But more, even more should the minister know his people. Only then the mystery of the sacrament he ministers will carry meaning to us.

Thirdly:- To lead the Church into ever new paths of service. Today the Church everywhere is called a new to service in that spirit of our saviour Lord.

There are areas of desperate human need in our world, which call for consecrated Christian service.
The real task of the ministry to which we are chosen and consecrated is the preaching of the Word, the ministry of the Sacraments, and the rendering of Christian service-through all these to witness to what God is doing for us men in this World, that men may hear and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour.
The work must not depend upon our personal attention. He that hath called you a one to whom all power hath been given on earth and in heaven. His grace is sufficient unto all your needs. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God. (2Cor; 3:5) (The very words and thought is the motto of the Diocese of Agra).

Let us manifest Jesus through our lives, because this is the purpose of being Christians, otherwise Christmas and Easter will be celebration like any other festival in a stereotyped way. Once the celebration is over we will forget that God came to save human beings from sins and rose again so that we become his spiritual children.

It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists and some to pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for work of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up; Ephesians 4:11-12.

The basic question anyone trying to market a product must ask is “How is my product going to fulfill a specific requirement of consumers?” People who misread the trend end up proving products or services no longer required. The preaching of the Gospel came as a breath of fresh air into this progressive decay of the soul. Today an evangelist who goes our to preach the gospel is doing just so in a market where he has to present Christ against competing interests and numerous gods and philosophies. The Bible exhorts all men everywhere to be saved and that is the collective responsibility of the Church. In Indian context, such targets are achieved basically through social services. These services include healthcare, education and providing basic infrastructural facilities to the poor alongwith relief services. In the Indian society which is so culturally, socially, economically and professionally diverse it is of paramount importance to equip evangelists with the needs and preferences of his target group. Sometimes we are so caught up with the souls of men that we tend to forget the other components of the body and mind. A healthy body and mind harbour healthy thoughts. While everybody has spiritual needs, it is the needs of the body and mind that they are immediately aware of. We are really our centric and refuse to be other centric. Scripture commands, “Each of your should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others”(php. 2:4). The danger in this attitude is that our approach may become irrelevant to the society. The majority of people are those who are in physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs. Yet to such people, the spiritual needs would be at the bottom just because they are burdened with more pressing needs. To such people what will be the impact of a stranger (evangelist) preaching a message targeting their spirits. Jesus’ example of not ignoring the physical needs of the people and at the same time meeting their spiritual needs should serve as a model for us. The majority things that it is the responsibility of the Church only to preach the Gospel but in fact there are many gifted and accomplished people who can do this job effectively. The Bible also exhorts “Each one should us whatever gift he has received to serve others faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Pe 4:10).

In India the majority lives in villages and agriculture being their livelihood, a person equipped with basic knowledge of recent advances made for increased production and environment friendly cost-effective plant production, protection, storage and marketing can evangelize much more effectively. A rapport with rural folk can easily be formed before targeting their spiritual needs. Department of Botany, St. John’s College is willing to impart training to the evangelists working in the rural sector for effective communication and strengthening their ties by making them aware of precision farming. The Gospel is communicated in the context of relationship. In missions, relationship precedes the Gospel and not vice-versa. Empathy is essential in evangelism. The compassion and love of Christ should compel us to be involved with people, understand their struggle and present the Gospel relevantly.

Our Bishop and Chairman, the Rt.Rev. S.R.Cutting, in his message, while paying tribute to the vision of our Founders, stressed the importance of continuing to build on that vision - layer upon layer, looking to Jesus, our Master Builder.

The day’s service started by invoking God’s blessings upon us. The choir sang- HoTeri Ashish Hum Par, Tera Hi Daya ho. Our Manager, Dr. Ipe M. Ipe led us in a prayer of thanksgiving.

The Members of our Committee of Management and Presbyters-Rev.P.P.Habil, Rev.(Dr.) S. Singh, Prof.G.M.Ram, Prof. S.K.Warne, Mr. N. Munawar, Mr. J.S. Jeremiah, our staff, students and parents, guests and old students raised their voices in songs of praise and bowed in prayer as our Bishop unveiled the Foundation stone.

A special prayer for Founder’s Day was said by Squadron Leader Manav Das an ex-student of St. Paul’s , who, alongwith many other ex-students, felt proud to be present on this auspicious occasion.

Scripture readings by the Head Girl and Head Boy, the responsive reading, our Bishop’s very inspiring message based on the life of St.Paul, prayers of confession and intercession, special songs by the staff, senior and junior choirs and the congregational hymns filled us with a sense of God’s presence and His manifold blessings, sang as the air reverberated with the harmonious sounds of Bind us together, Lord,Here we are gathered together as a family, Our God is an awesome God and You Lord are my sure foundation.

Our Bishop, the Rt.Rev. S.R.Cutting blessed the entire congregation and the Founder’s Day service ended with the hymn, “Count your many blessings”

Everyone joined in the fellowship tea after the service, happy, inspired and motivated. May we always feel God’s presence with us and strive to carry out His work in and through our School.