Ash Wednesday: Catholic... Adventist Health Associates, Caregivers, Physicians, Patients and Visitors in Observance of Lent

Ash Wednesday: Catholic Priest Mark Maxon Applies Ashes to Adventist Health Associates, Caregivers, Physicians, Patients and Visitors in Observance of Lent

March 4, 2022 by Andy Roman 

Catholic Priest Mark Maxon is part of the Adventist Health “Spiritual Care Services” team. In this photograph, he is wearing an Adventist Health identification while performing Catholic rituals.

Adventist Health celebrated Ash Wednesday at two of its California hospitals on March 2, 2022. Adventist Health Bakersfield and Adventist Health Tehachapi brought in a spiritual health care team, which included a Roman Catholic priest, and offered “blessed ashes” to their patients and employees. Adventist Health proudly shared this “religious” event on social media for all to see.

In the Facebook post above, Adventist Health Bakersfield published the following message: “On this Ash Wednesday, our Mission & Spiritual Care team is honored to offer ashes to our associates, caregivers, physicians, patients, and visitors.”

The same message was sent out by Adventist Health Tehachapi. They are delighted to use social media to advertise Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, to the local community and the rest of the world.

Here is Catholic Priest Mark Maxon from the Saint Malachy Roman Ctholic Church in Tehachapi, California. He is officiating during the celebration of Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, at Adventist Health Tehachapi for patients and staff.

Seventh-day Adventists are supposed to place the Scriptures above tradition. We reject the idea of elevating the teachings of fallible man to the same level as God’s word. We used to disagree with Protestant and Catholic churches when they added or deleted from the Bible, misapplied God’s word, and glorified man-made traditions in the church. But thanks to 60 years of ecumenism, it seems that we are also guilty of doing the same.

Regrettably, Adventist institutions are commemorating Ash Wednesday, a Roman Catholic feast day and a man-made festival. There isn’t a single word or hint concerning Ash Wednesday in the entire Bible. These celebrations are on equal level with Sunday keeping, the immortality of the soul, and papal authority because Ash Wednesday is associated with Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday in Roman Catholic tradition.

According to Catholic tradition, on Ash Wednesday, “all the faithful” are exhorted to have a priest apply ashes to their foreheads. The ashes used in the ceremony are “made from the burning remains of the palms blessed on Palm Sunday of the previous year.” The ashes are mixed with “holy water” and blessed by the bishop or priest. [1]

Ash Wednesday, according to Catholic theology, is the first day that marks the beginning of Lent and takes place six and a half weeks before Easter Sunday. It is a celebration to prepare people for Easter Sunday. [2] Seventh-day Adventist institutions are now submitting to these human traditions. We call out the other churches that teach Sunday sacredness and accuse them of embracing tradition. However, we are doing the same while claiming to defend the Holy Scriptures. We say we are the “People of the Book.” Which book? The Holy Bible or the Catholic Catechism?

Too many of our pastors and leaders are dead asleep and stand silent as Rome’s propaganda, which has no place in any of our institutions, is being celebrated, published, and forced upon our people. Promoting Romanism only helps to heal her deadly wound. We are increasingly seeing more evidence of these activities as church leaders embrace the heathen interfaith fraternity that Pope Francis has been actively promoting in all the churches.

When Catholic beliefs and Catholic mysticism are introduced into our institutions, we should be shocked and dismayed. Why do they allow this to happen? This kind of work or mission did not originate with God. Ultimately, the Holy Scriptures are being replaced by Catholic traditions. Human teachings are a diversion from God’s true mission for us at this time in history, which is to proclaim the Three Angels’ Messages to the entire world.

God cannot condone any of this. The Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy do not approve of bringing Catholic priests into our institutions to perform their rituals. God’s sheep is being led astry by these administrators and their ecumenical clergy team. We become complicit if we keep silent. Silence in the face of the Omega of Apostasy is a form of apostasy in and of itself. Anyone who would accept or condone this action, or who dares to remain silent, should be ashamed.

“But God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines, and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority,—not one or all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith. Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain ‘Thus saith the Lord’ in its support” (Great Controversy, p. 595).

Sources

[1] https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01775b.htm

[2] https://www.usccb.org/prayer-worship/liturgical-year/lent

Source