Yes, I am aware that Ash Wednesday was almost an entire week ago. But, I want to talk about it anyway.
Ash Wednesday is something that we have actively participated in long before we were Catholic. As Episcopalians, we also were able to go to church on Ash Wednesday and receive ashed on our forehead. I will admit though, we rarely went. I would say in my whole life prior to the last couple of years, I went just a hand full of times (and at least one of those was a year that I had to be an acolyte [like an altar server] for that service).
Last year, when we went forward to receive ashes, it was exciting. We were into our last season before actually joining the church, and it felt like one of the first times where we were fully participating in something with the rest of the church (although I’m sure that wasn’t really true).
This year was considerably different, although we found that when we spoke after Mass, Eric and I had the same feelings.
For one thing, this year, we didn’t leave during the Mass, of course. This also meant that we were able to stay with our kids, instead of having to leave them with our sponsors.
More importantly though, we were so taken with how full the church was. The pews were packed, the balcony was full, the back of the church had people standing throughout it, and then people ended up standing in some of the aisles. This meant, of course, that come time of ashes, it was almost like a clown car — people just kept coming and coming and coming.
We were taken by the sheer number of people. Although our parish is typically pretty full for Masses, it still felt a little different last Wednesday night.
What we were most taken by was seeing the people who filed past us on their way back to their seats (or where they were standing in the back). We saw a tiny baby with ashes on his forehead that caught both of our attention. Then, we couldn’t help but notice all of the ages and types of people walking by. Each of them, no matter how different they were from us, were connected to us by that cross on their forehead.
I have been so in love with our new faith since joining the church, and love the feeling of being part of something larger than I can really put my finger on.
And, as I sat watching all those people stream by, my heart was full, and I thanked God for bringing us to where we are right now.
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