Ash Wednesday mass is, of course, always far more well attended than any holy day of obligation. Between mass being at 6pm, daddy not getting home from work till 5:20 (I was trying hard to leave early, honest...) and the tail end of rush-hour, we got there eight minutes late, by which time standing room was spilling out from the vestibule into the patio.
Father preached a very good sermon about visible signs of prayer and penance versus real devotion. He closed the hope that we would not merely wear ashes on our foreheads as an external sign, but accept the ashes into our hearts as a sign of real penance.
However, some people must have missed the part about externals not being the only important thing, because half the congregation left after ashes were distributed (after the Liturgy of the Word but before the Liturgy of the Eucharist).
I didn't let my feelings over this prevent me from taking one of the vacated pews, however.
MOCK SHUTTERS.
9 hours ago
1 comment:
I remember that phenomenon when we lived down there. We went to Mass around noon here, and only a handful of people left after they got their ashes. Can't say what the evening Masses were like.
At least these people aren't receiving the Eucharist in the state of mortal sin. Silver lining? Of course, we'd rather them all be regular Mass goers in a state of grace.
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