Restoring The Sacred . . . What “Ash Wednesday Catholics” Can Teach Us About Catholic Worship
By JAMES MONTI Ash Wednesday is coming very early this year — February 10. And with it will come the annual return of the “Ash Wednesday Catholics.” We are all familiar with the phenomenon that on Ash Wednesday the Catholic population of almost any given place seems to swell beyond measure as churches that normally see little more than a modest attendance at Sunday and weekday Masses are suddenly flooded with unfamiliar faces all in search of ashes for their foreheads. No sooner do these visitors receive their tiny portion of dust than they disappear, largely not to be seen or heard from in church for the other 364 days of the year — although some will put in one…Continue Reading