Question: This came to mind on Ash Wednesday. With the imposition of ashes, the Church requires two forms of exhortation, either "Repent and believe in the Gospel" or "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return." Often parents present their children, or at school Masses all the children are present to receive ashes. Thus, the question I ask, is at the same time theological, liturgical and moral. If a child is under the age of reason moral theology tells us that he is not culpable for "sin." Contemporary psychology tells us the same. Children live in the present and are neither future-oriented nor aware of the past. Thus, if a child is presented to receive the ashes, what are they exhorted to repent from or what are they asked to remember, knowing they are incapable of either? Liturgically, should we refrain from the imposition or remain silent while imposing the ashes? — D.L., Athens, Alabama
