We go to St. Joe’s for the 8 am. It’s about half full. I always like seeing Apollo from the Frager’s Hardware Store helping out at mass. Dawn declares that my ash smudge is pretty light and likely won’t last all day. I’m disappointed. I really prefer a big ol’ smudge. But I suppose the weak smudge is balanced somewhat by the fact that we got “Remember you are dust and to dust you will return” when we were getting smudged. I like that one much better than the “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel.”<\/p>\n
I help usher at the 5:30 at St. Matt’s. Funny that they start about two minutes early, but I suppose people are going to be streaming in late anyway. Place is jam packed SRO by about 5:40.<\/p>\n
I always love Ash Wednesday, getting to be so publicly marked as Catholic for the day. But then of course I feel guilty, when Christ tells us in today’s gospel,<\/p>\n
When you pray,
\ndo not be like the hypocrites,
\nwho love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
\nso that others may see them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAnd on this day when we fast and walk around with dirty faces:<\/p>\n
[W]hen you fast,
\nanoint your head and wash your face,
\nso that you may not appear to be fasting,
\nexcept to your Father who is hidden.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nBut Monsignor reminds us in the homily that Lent is a season, a journey. It’s not just about today, but about the next forty (or so) days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We go to St. Joe’s for the 8 am. It’s about half full. I always like seeing Apollo from the Frager’s Hardware Store helping out at mass. Dawn declares that my ash smudge is pretty light and likely won’t last all day. I’m disappointed. I really prefer a big ol’ smudge. But I suppose the … Continue reading Ash Wednesday<\/span>