“Ash Wednesday reminds you that you are not invincible and that you are going to pass away one day and hopefully you will meet the creator,” Ed Miller reflected at the conclusion of the 9 a.m. Mass at St. Thomas More Church in Munster.
Ed and his wife, Sandy, of Whiting, attended the service to join their granddaughters in worship. The girls are in third- and sixth-grades at the St. Thomas More School.
The pews at the morning Mass to herald the 40-day Lenten season were packed with students, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and baby siblings. Attendees also included adults of all ages who had broken away from work or other duties for a morning reflection on penitence and charity — traditional Lenten themes.
“It is a special day for (Catholics) that begins the Holy Season of Lent to prepare for Easter,” said The Rev. Michael Yadron, pastor of St. Thomas More. Easter takes place on Sunday, March 27.
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“All Catholics are marked with the ashes in the sign of the cross as a way of reminding them we are from dust and to dust we will return someday,” said Yadron.
For those who observe, it will also be a day of fasting.
The biblical passage read during this Mass, Mathew 6:1-6, 16-18, reminds worshippers of the challenge to do good works for the sake of goodness rather than for some type of public recognition.
Yadron, in purple robes, invited the students to “come up and tell the Lord the kinds of things you are doing in this Lenten season.”
Each of the schoolchildren came prepared with a purple paper rolled into a scroll and tied with a ribbon. The students had each made a written promise to do something positive during the Lenten season. That promise, made between the child and God, was placed in a basket one by one as the children filed out of the pews and up to the front of the sanctuary. The scrolls will remain there throughout the season as a tangible reminder to them of their promise to choose to take positive actions.
Before Mass, Yadron explained that while Catholics practice “mortification” and “people do give up chocolate and pop and that kind of stuff. We also encourage them to do a good work — help out a food pantry or a homeless shelter. It is not just about a negative thing, but also adding a good thing to do.”
After the scrolls were deposited in the baskets and the children returned to the pews, the congregation prepared to file forward to receive the sign of the cross on their foreheads in ashes. Children solemnly clasped their hands in the sign of a prayer in front of their chests as they marched forward.
When the procession ended, Yadron urged the students — and others — to suppress the urge to wipe the ashes away throughout the day and to take notice of them when they look in the mirror because, “it reminds us of our mortality.”
The Millers, who said they always try to attend Mass when their granddaughters read in church, thought the scrolls were a good addition to the service.
“I thought that was very nice,” said Sandy Miller. “It makes the children think. When you put pen to paper, it makes you think about it.”
Nancy Coltun Webster is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.