Ash Wednesday
A week ago I attended my first Ash Wednesday mass in probably fifteen years. It was a sobering service and the Gospel reading surely described some of the more important tenets behind embodied Christianity (besides the Beatitudes). Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21:
“Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth that thine alms may be in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
I came away from the service a little more educated and much more sure about the solemnity and the seriousness of this time during the church year. This is why I was amazed that when asked, my sister-in-law didn’t think that her Christian church celebrated Lent. At the most, her pastor was giving up Mountain Dew for the forty days. Apparently this is a sacrifice. I was even more highly disturbed when she basically said, “Don’t just Catholics celebrate Lent?” Every Abrahamic religion celebrates periods of contemplation and fasting, but apparently the Apocalypse chasers do not follow along. Why think? Why fast? Why reaffirm belief when you’ve already got your space locked in when the redeemer appears?
The heck with that, right?
I’ve always been turned off by the “going-through-the-motions” approach to religion which was always so prevalent in my observations as a young Catholic. Why even bother if it’s just for show? So, yeah, I agree with your sentiments, Cas.
And with regard to the passage from Matthew, I tried to think of something to say to add to the message or explain my interpretation, but there’s no need. It’s all right there, perfectly stated.
I feel that same way, too, Tony. I remember being very turned off by the almost robotic motions our priests seemed to go through during the services I attended at Our Lady Queen of Peace. But, I ahve to admit, when I began attending services at St. John’s Deaf Center with my mom (my Dad wouldn’t go because he avoided the gossip-mongers…something I will cover in my next Hello, Father essay) I felt that they made a decent attempt at really putting forth a certain effort and downright interest in the service. This strange very Catholic going-through-the-motions service even crept back recently when I attended a service with my daughter at her school. The priest seemed to want to get the service over with than put his all into it. Perhaps it is because of a room filled with fidgeting kids that it seemed so rushed?
Last Wednesday, when I attended the Ash Wednesday service at Portland’s Trinity Cathedral I was in church for the better part of an hour-and-a-half. The entire service was really moving and beautiful (latin hymns, the disposition of ashes, etc.). The funny thing was when I left, I called Kim to let her know I was coming home and she responded with a rather loud, “YOU WERE IN CHURCH THAT WHOLE TIME?!?!?” It made me laugh.