Ash Wednesday – Seen & Heard

The observance of the liturgical calendar is nothing new to our family, with our Anglican and Lutheran backgrounds.  However, this year feels different to me… I can’t say it is objectively different, only that I have a heightened sense of the community in which I am a member, a closer connection with my fellow pilgrims in this vale of tears…

♣     Ashes on the forehead of the nurse who helped us transfer via shuttle when mother was referred to the hospital for some testing at her doctor’s appointment in the morning.  I noted “I see you’ve been to church already!” and she said yes, she lives in the east valley and didn’t want to wait as late in the day as she would have to if she didn’t go till after work, so she attended the 5:30 am mass – and it was PACKED!

♣     An admitting nurse commented, “I’m seeing all these people walking around with smudges on their foreheads today, what does THAT mean?” – thus the outward sign of penitence created a great opportunity for spiritual conversation, something that probably happened hundreds of thousands if not millions of times yesterday throughout the world…

♣     Over the intercom at the hospital while we waited in ER for various results, the announcement that ashes would be dispensed in the hospital chapel at 12:00 noon.

♣     Someone from corporate walked into Jeff’s office and asked, “Anybody know where there’s a church near here?”  So Jeff told where his church was, and that the next mass was at 6:30pm, to which the visitor replied incredulously, “In NY they have ashes about every half-hour!”

♣     Got a text from our choirmaster saying “Parking is atrocious, come as early as you can!”

♣     Arriving 20 minutes early, the parking lot was mostly full, no handicapped spots so we ended up near the back of the lot.  I parked us on an end so there was room to maneuver the wheelchair, then left them all to their maneuverings and raced across the parking lot in my eminently speedy manner to join the choir for a few minutes of brief discussion and warm up before the service.  The pews were mostly full already!

♣     By the time we were singing the processional, people were still streaming into the church, though by that time they were having to stand along the walls, with their little children in tow.

♣     By the time ashes were dispensed, all three entryways were packed, and the aisles were packed at least 2 deep.  I never thought I would see MORE people on Ash Wednesday than I saw there on Christmas Eve, but this was way more.  And it was only one of six masses held there throughout the day.

♣     One penitent, a little dirty and showing the wear and tear of street life, could not refrain from prostrating himself upon the steps before the altar, in extreme sorrow.  He was allowed to remain there until the servers came down to serve communion, when he arose with a gentle tap on the shoulder, and returned to his seat, tears streaming down his face.  I felt a great sense of solidarity with that brother, and was grateful he found his way into the church at a time when he clearly needed this encounter with Christ.

♣     After mass, came out to the van to discover that “atrocious parking” meant that even the empty spots on the end of a row can become a parking spot, and someone had parked their beautiful PT Cruiser snug up next to the passenger side of the van, so I had to extricate the vehicle from that spot in order to allow mom to access her door.

♣     Driving through the nearest Burger King to feed the very hungry tummies in my van, I placed our order of 7 BK Fish sandwiches, and nothing else… the drive through clerk sounded utterly unsurprised, and I fancied ours was not the first such order of the day.  Sitting at the window, I saw ashes on the forehead of the lady ordering at the counter.

♣     Dropped off the family and then took Laurent to the grocery store for a few necessary items, and wondered if we might see more ashes there… did not, but felt glad to wear the mark of Christ on this one day when normally it is not visible.