Ash Wednesday meant that I was up and ready for 6:15 A.M. Mass with my baby boy who received ashes for the first time. There are numerous reasons why I love going to the first Ash Wednesday Mass of the day including not having to miss work to go during the day or miss class at night for the evening Mass. My favorite reason is so my ashes are visible all day long. As a faithful and humbly proud Catholic, I see the ashes as a sort of badge of honor. Ironic, I know, considering the ashes partly represent the sins I wish to repent and move away from during the Lenten season (and really for the rest of my life). It's just cool to see who is walking around with that undeniable smudge upon his/her forehead.
One of the best parts is when I see my students wear their ashes to school. To me it negates all the morons walking around with Rosaries as necklaces, something very disrespectful since a Rosary is NOT a piece of jewelry, to distinguish their "gang" relations (yes, they really choose to use a sacramental for dubious purposes). It's a great reminder that there are still teenagers in existence not ashamed to express their faith, or at least, parents out there still laying a foundation of faith for their children.
The most interesting occurrence is the trend for everyone, not just Catholic Christians, to jump on the Lenten bandwagon. Many Protestant Christians I know have started having Ash Wednesday services and distributing ashes. All of that is fantastic! Keep it up! I am overjoyed about this trend of Protestants coming back to many Catholic roots because those are some of the things I adore about my faith. When you participate in these kind of things my heart is happy because you too are experiencing the Lord on a new level.
Just please don't try to sell me on your denomination because it is doing all these awesome "new" things. The fact that they think they are doing something new and super holy is what is frustrating to me. Let's be fair to the Catholic Church. One reason, although definitely not the main reason, Protestants are Protestants is because they do not wish to follow all the traditions and Sacraments of the Catholic Church. Yet, I've witnessed Protestant churches distribute Communion the exact same way Catholics distribute it, and I've had Protestant students come to me in excitement about receiving ashes the exact same way Catholics receive them, etc.
I have friends and students who want to convince me that Catholic is not the way to go, but then they do very Catholic things. Please don't misunderstand, if you choose to observe the Lenten season by making a big deal about Ash Wednesday and abstaining* from something to make yourself a better Christian, you will have my 100% support. Instead of discounting my religion, let's chat about the two ways we believe. We can agree to disagree about some things and agree to agree about others. It might actually surprise some people to see how similar we really are.
**Here's a Lenten tip for those of you wishing to be a part of this spiritual time of year: you don't have to give something up to participate in the Lenten season:)! Aside from abstaining from red meat on Fridays because that's the expectation, you can actually promise to do something extra during these 40 days to improve yourself and your faith. For example, I have a Lenten devotional with something for me to meditate on every day of Lent. I have also set the goal of praying as a family every night, attending at least one Stations of the Cross, and of course I will go to Confession before Easter Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment