Ash Wednesday
September 10, 2009
- I'm taking the lliberty of re-posting this poem, which first appeared in February, because it is my magnum opus (as regards significance) on repentance, this week's blog topic. ONCE UPON ASH WEDNESDAY... It was the same date as today, Ash Wednesday of that year, An opaque sky heralded the bleak disciplines of Lent. Cremated palm ...
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February 26, 2009
- Lent officially began yesterday, February 25th, on Ash Wednesday, and will continue for 40 days. Lent is a season of soul-searching, repentance, and reflection. It originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves, and when converts were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. By observing the days of Lent, ...
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February 26, 2009
- Ash Wednesday and the Innocent Child in Line As I stood in line with my 13 year-old and his friend waiting to get ashes at Church, I couldn’t help but over hear a young child behind me. He was tugging on to his mother and asking her, “how long was this was going to take, I’m hungry?” And he went on and said, “I don’t like standing here, mommy, I’m tired!” His ...
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February 25, 2009
- Today at my home blog I am writing about death, art, churches, and that grey smudge on so many foreheads today. http://aknickerson.blogspot.com/2009/02/remember-you-are-dust.html
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February 25, 2009
- I recognised Martin when he walked in the driveway this evening. Sure, didn't I know him from the road. I passed him frequently over the last thirteen years, he was usually heading in the direction of the countryside area around and beyond my house and I was going in the other direction, either driving into town or planning on a trip to the supermarket. I usually waved, as is the way of ...
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February 25, 2009
- (unrevised poem) It was the same date as today, Ash Wednesday of that year, An opaque sky heralded the bleak disciplines of Lent. Cremated palm leaves made soot as fine as stoneground cornsilk, Echoes of long-past hosannas Fading in the deadened air. Metanoia, said the purpled priest, Examine the inward heart, Don't stint a loving God who pours out on his ...
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February 24, 2009
- Reading Carolyn Burns Bass’ blog today about Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday made me think. Unlike Carolyn, I am Catholic. Well, a lapsed Catholic, but still Catholic. I went to early morning mass on Ash Wednesdays when I was a kid. One year when I was sick my grandfather rubbed his forehead against mine so I would have ash on my forehead, just like him. Yet I think of something ...
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February 24, 2009
- It’s Fat Tuesday. A day of worldwide gluttony and pursuit of pleasure before Ash Wednesday and the season of lent. Growing up in a very diverse neighborhood in SoCal, many of my friends at school were of Mexican heritage, which also meant Catholic. They went to catechism. They came to school every year on Ash Wednesday with a smudge on their forehead, a secret symbol for an exclusive club. ...
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