Ash Wednesday
I have spoken with quite a few priests, and most think that St. Gregory the Great made a mistake when he started this whole “ashes” thing. It is amazing how many people are so worried about getting ashes, yet many of them do not think twice about missing Mass on Sundays. Today the phone was ringing off the hook with inquiries as to when we were distributing ashes.
I had the 7 a.m. Mass this morning, and I was pretty impressed; we only had maybe 15% of the fairly large crowd leave after getting their ashes, but before receiving the Eucharist. At my previous parish it was so bad, 30-40% left before Communion. I even preached about it, saying that if they left before receiving Communion they were doing the very thing that Jesus condemned in the Gospel. Ashes are a valuable “sacramental” but like all sacramentals, they point to a deeper reality. The Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, are the reality.
The 12:15 p.m. service was a nightmare. It was at St. Anthony’s which holds about 1000 people, and there were probably between 500-600 people there. By the time I finished distributing ashes there were maybe 30 people left to pray the General Intercessions, Our Father, and receive the final blessing.
The more amusing thing today was this morning I received a call from the gym/health club I go to (I need to serious exercise and diet, so far I am sticking to it, but I have a long way to go). They wanted to know if I was coming to the club to exercise that afternoon. I said yes, and they said that they wanted me to bring ashes. I did, but we did go through the whole rite — readings and all. There was about 6 who attended, and they did a great job participating. They demonstrated real devotion. That, I don’t mind doing.
