Slideshow image
On Ash Wednesday (tomorrow) we begin our forty-day journey toward Easter with a day of fasting and repentance. Here at Gloria Dei we will mark the day with a simple service at 7:00PM.

 

Perhaps you avoid Ash Wednesday because having your head smudged with black ash seems like just one more attempt at empty virtue signalling, like giving up chocolate for Lent. But it’s not about making a statement. There are no rules for how long to leave the ashes on your forehead either. You don’t have to feel conspicuous in public. You can wipe them off when you leave the church.
Participating in the ritual is actually a deeply personal journey . . . it is simply a token of our own intention, that is meant to be sincere and from the heart. Marking our foreheads with dust, we acknowledge that we die and return to the earth. I find the ritual meaningful because there is value in taking time out to stop and reflect on our mortality.As we participate in a ritual that brings home the reality of our human condition, it imparts wisdom on how we should live.

 

“I have one life and one chance to make it count for something...
My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can.”
~ President Jimmy Carter