Miércoles de Ceniza

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, or Miércoles de Ceniza en español. I had a substitute teaching assignment at the Alamo Heights Junior School. While I was sipping coffee in the teachers lounge, I heard a regular teacher speak of how on an Ash Wednesday some years back a teacher had told a student to go wash their face -- not realizing that the ashes on the forehead were from having gone to an early morning Ash Wednesday service. And when the teacher found out the reason for the "dirty forehead" that teacher felt terribly embarrassed!

Interesting. Nowadays more than merely Catholics or traditionally "high-church" Protestants are observing Ash Wednesday. Indeed, I've observed the holy day and the holy season into which it leads, Lent, for years. It's a great way to refocus from the celebrations and festivities of Christmas and the New Year, to the fact that not only does time move on and carry us mortal humans thru good as well as bad, but also WHY our God became one of us, in the man Jesus of Nazareth.

Typically in Ash Wednesday worship, the leader (the priest or pastor or whomever) will hold a bowl of ashes, often burnt at least in part from the previous year's Palm Sunday leaves. The congregants line up to approach the leader, who puts thumb into the ashes, then marks a cross on each forehead. This is generally done while the leader says something like, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you must return." At Alamo Heights Christian Church we held a similar service in the evening, except we included communion and omitted the words quoted above.

Traditionally observers of the Lenten season will give up something for Lent. All Catholics must also give up eating meats other than fish (and chicken?) on Fridays of Lent, and their Church encourages them to fast. Giving up the meat is why Mardi Gras ("Fat Tuesday" in French") is in certain languages called "Carnival", which comes from carni vale, that is, "farewell to meat" in Latin.

For a few decades a new Lenten custom has been growing: in addition to giving something up, add some good habit to ones daily life. So, this Year of Our Lord 2007, in addition to giving up my usual sweetened coffee and tea and all soft drinks, and Shipley Donuts, I shall daily (or most days) do some significant brisk walking, as the doc has instructed me to do to lower my cholesterol and otherwise improve my health. "Significant" as in a good distance and walking at a good pace for at least twenty minutes. Since both Alamo Hts. Jr. School and the High School have tracks, I can do this at lunch or during my teacher's conference period any day that I'm subbing.

I also plan to meditate regularly on the seriousness of the themes of Lent and Holy Week. I shall "fix my eyes on Jesus", as the Letter to the Hebrews commands us to do (Heb. 12:1), specifically how He "suffered so much from the hands of sinners" (verse 3) -- and just WHY the suffering of the only perfect and sinless man who ever lived. He suffered and dies that horrible death for you and for me! He "gave His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).

I hope that you, dear reader are already among us "many". If you are not, I pray that you shall be. Soon!