On online forums, Christians are debating what to do. It's also become a topic of conversation, debate, church events, and other gatherings.

So what is the church to do when one of our traditional Christian holidays falls on the same day as a flower-filled, Hallmark-driven, love-fest?

Well, this is a great opportunity to connect the two events. Read more

There were two rituals attached to the winter fire.

One was setting the fire with crushed newspaper, strips of kindling, and pieces of larger wood.

Setting the fire so it lit readily and well was no mean feat.

The second ritual involved disposing of the burnt ashes from the night before.

From memory (and I am going back a few years), the ashes would be scooped into a bucket, taken out, and spread over the vegetable garden.

Why the veggie garden?

Because that is where you were told to dispose of them!

Little did I know that wood ash is an excellent source of lime and potassium for your garden.

Using ashes in the garden also provides many of the trace elements that plants need to thrive.

Wood ash fertiliser is best used either lightly scattered or by first being composted along with the rest of your compost.

This is because wood ash will produce lye and salts if it gets wet.

The lye and salt will not cause problems in small quantities, but in larger amounts, the lye and salt may burn your plants.

So, this is why we have Ash Wednesday.

Ashes are a good fertiliser for your garden, providing trace elements needed for you to thrive.

Like the seed (See Mark 4), they are best scattered and used lightly or sparingly - once a year ought to be sufficient!

Practically speaking, on a liturgical note, the distribution of ashes is not a function reserved to the ordained minister.

Consider a large glass bowl laden with ashes on a stand in the centre of the sanctuary. Individuals are invited to come forward to the ashes and sprinkle themselves with ash however they wish.

In turn, this opens up the possibility of couples approaching together and, in turn, sprinkling each other.

What an extraordinary metaphor of forgiveness.

For those with a disability, invite others to assist them - one of the most frequent phrases in the Gospels reads, "They brought to him,"

Some complain, "What about the mess?"

Our Eucharistic celebration is a recalling of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

I am told it was quite messy, "instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out." (Jn 19: 34).

Another thought to consider: dispense with the celebration of the Eucharist on Ash Wednesday. Rather, focus on the Liturgy of the Ashes.

A final thought: those who regularly minister to the sick in their home through the Liturgy of Communion take with them a container with the blessed ashes and celebrate with those housebound a Liturgy of the Ashes.

Being housebound does not dismiss you from the Eucharistic community.

• Gerard Whiteford is the Marist priest, retreat facilitator, and spiritual companion for 35 years.
• First published at Rest a While.

The contrasts couldn't be more startling.

Christmas being so engagingly delightful with a cute newborn baby boy, animals, angels, stars and visitors with gifts.

Now as we mark Ash Wednesday we are going to have imprinted on our forehead's ash in the sign of the cross.

Simultaneously the minister will say either: - "remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return" or "turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel".

And we will reply - Amen!!!!

Not morbid at all given that Lent is about life and death!

We're agreeing that yes, the earth isn't our permanent home and we will die.

Our bodies will be placed back into the earth to turn to dust and our souls spirited into God's full sight forever. To replace this certainty with the ever more popular idioms of ‘passed' or ‘pass over' only serves to skip the depthness of this beautiful fact.

The Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter liturgies provide more extreme contrasts as we re-enter into the life, death and rising of Jesus.

The sanctuary being stripped; the altar bare and the tabernacle door opened and emptied; the Gospel retelling how Jesus was sold out by Judas and Peter distancing himself from all involvement.

Jesus being executed without a fair trial, the disciples buzzing off while some women stayed close.

Watching the Easter fire burn, entering the dark church holding flickering candles, listening to the Egyptians meeting their watery deaths, rejoicing during the 8-minute Exultate, and wanting to give the devil the thumbs down at the baptismal promises.

Death didn't have the final say.

We now have God's own life within us.

It's all an unearned gift.

Jesus came that we may have more than a slice of life but "have it to the full". (John 10:10) Now that's worth getting excited about.

Not surprisingly, Ash Wednesday has been described as the ‘Porch to Lent' i.e. an entryway so we can intentionally say an unconditional Yes to Jesus' invitation to follow Him, (Matthew 4:19) when we renew our Baptismal promises some 40 days later at the Vigil.

Lent with its appeal to personal conversion is the ability to pick up the mirror and honestly looking at ourselves, reconcile to God.

This fits in with the summer days giving way to autumn's cooler temperatures being a dying sort of season anyway.

I'm forever grateful to my Catholic upbringing because I wonder if or how I might have found the fullness of faith if not.

Ash Wednesday always stood out.

As a youngster I used to line up my 5 sibling's dolls and soft toys and finger write the cross, knowing instinctively if I used ash all hell would have broken loose!

How are you going to approach the long haul of this season?

Will I get back on track when my plans turn to custard or flag my original intentions as unachievable.

But I'm distracted already with this fractured world caused by sin.

It's hard to escape the conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine and powerlessly watch on the tv news, ordinary people being forced from their homes and villages.

Do they need Ash Wednesday to remind them they are Ash?

Do those Christian's seriously maltreated in North Korea especially, need Ash Wednesday to remind them they are ash?

We can all identify with St Paul when he struggled with himself.

"I cannot understand my own behaviour."

He says. "I fail to carry out the things I want to do, and I find myself doing the very things I hate". (Romans 7:15.) And, St Paul should know, since he had a criminal record hunting down to slaughter Christians before his life changing conversion.

Lent is an opportunity to treat ourselves with a fresh start.

To stop struggling with ourselves, hiding behind excuses, pinning blame on another or regretting those situations we could have been handled more maturely.

It's time to own our ‘stuff', to say we're sorry and seek God's forgiving friendship again which is a constantly open-ended gift.

Go in peace, your sins are forgiven is music to one's ears.

• Sue Seconi is a writer and a parishioner from the Catholic Parish of Whanganui - te Parihi katorika ki Whanganui.

He explained why he created it. "Humour is the ability to see through things, even the darkest or most sombre of things, to realise that there's a God of love and joy behind it all." Read more

Auckland diocese spokeswoman Dame Lyndsay Freer said many of Auckland's 189,000 Catholics had not received the ashes as they usually would on Ash Wednesday. This was because of the Covid alert level 3 then alert level 2 restrictions.

At level 2 only 100 people could gather and in Auckland the number was generally too restrictive.

The region has now moved to COVID alert level 1, enabling Catholic congregations to gather together again.

"Lent still began on Ash Wednesday, that 40-day period leading up to Easter did begin," Freer said.

The day involves prayer and fasting, and services where priests apply ashes to believers' foreheads. The ashes symbolise repentance and the dust from which Catholics - and many other Christians - believe God made people.

"Lent is a very special time in the life of the church, it's one of the most important times in the annual calendar.

"It will be wonderful to be able to get back to normal."

Even a short lockdown was a big deal for Catholics, Freer said. May Catholics attend at least one mass a week, while some attend every day.

Most of the other observances of Lent had gone ahead as usual, Freer said.

Source

• Stuff
• Image: Catholic Diocese of Auckland

Archdiocese officials said that many churches in the area are canceling or reducing the number of services due to the winter storm.

"In recognition of the challenges almost all families are facing in the archdiocese due to widespread lack of electricity and water, Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller has granted the faithful a dispensation from the law of fasting and abstinence on Ash Wednesday," officials said in an announcement on Facebook.

The archdiocese said to check in with local leaders and monitor social media for Mass times.

Read More

"Lent is a journey of return to God," the pope said during his homily on Feb. 17, to the socially distanced faithful attending the Mass.

"Right now, however, God is speaking to our hearts," he added. "In this life, we will always have things to do and excuses to offer, but right now, brothers and sisters, right now is the time to return to God."

"It is hard to leave Egypt behind," Francis said. "So it is with us: Our journey back to God is blocked by our unhealthy attachments, held back by the seductive snares of our sins, by the false security of money and appearances, by the paralysis of our discontents. To embark on this journey, we have to unmask these illusions."

Ashes ceremonies disrupted

While the Pope's message is familiar, the Ashes ceremonies have been disrupted around the globe with the coronavirus pandemic forcing changes to both the celebration of Ash Wednesday and the distribution of ashes.

Customarily, the minister marks the forehead of each participant's forehead with black ashes, in the shape of a cross.

In order to avoid close contact and avoid the spread of the virus, the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments published a note saying the ashes should be sprinkled on the head.

It seems some may not have "received the memo"; continuing to physically apply the Ashes. Others used a range of implements and there were even some DIY solutions in evidence.

Ash Wednesday is an ecumenical Christian celebration; the Vatican's "note" does not apply everywhere.

Here a snapshot from around the world on a disrupted Ash Wednesday.

As more countries celebrate Ash Wednesday, pictures of these countries will become available on the Internet.

The holy day of prayer and fasting is one of the highest contact observances on the liturgical calendar. It takes place on 17 February this year.

Many churches mark the beginning of the penitential season of Lent with clergy marking the sign of the cross on congregants' foreheads with ashes. The ashes are remnants from the burning of palm fronds from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebrations.

The practice presents a problem when health experts fighting COVID-19 have advised people to avoid touching their faces or coming close to others.

Ahead of the beginning of Lent, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments published a note detailing how Catholic priests are to distribute ashes. It says:

• The priest blesses the ashes and sprinkles them with holy water in silence.
• He then addresses those present, reciting once the formula found in the Roman Missal. He says "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" or "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return".
• The priest then "cleanses his hands and puts on a face mask. He will distribute ashes to those who come to him. Or, if appropriate, he goes to those who are standing in their places."
• He then sprinkles the ashes on each person's head "without saying anything."

The Pope's Ash Wednesday plans have also been impacted.

Pope Francis will celebrate Ash Wednesday Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. This is in place of making the traditional walk from the Church of St. Anselm to the Basilica of Santa Sabina on Rome's Aventine Hill.

Because of ongoing concerns about drawing a crowd and the potential that could have for spreading the coronavirus, the Mass and distribution of ashes will take place with a congregation of about 100 people at the Altar of the Chair.

In the UK, the Church in England and Wales is preparing to celebrate Ash Wednesday under unprecedented circumstances. Catholics are being urged to stay at home and bless one another with the sign of the cross to mark the beginning of Lent.

Speaking to churchgoers in London, where the South African variant of the coronavirus has been detected in several boroughs, Cardinal Vincent Nichols said: "My suggestion is this: celebrate Ash Wednesday at home, with your family, in the household or ‘support bubble' of which you are a part."

The Rev. Stacy Gahlman-Schroeder of Norway Grove Memorial Lutheran Church in DeForest, Wisconsin, plans to stand in the church parking lot throughout the day, dipping disposable Q-tips into the ashes, rather than her finger, or offering a blessing, if it's preferred.

Sources

Vatican News

The Tablet

Religion News

America Magazine

Cardinal John Dew and Bishop Patrick Dunn identified the option in messages to pastoral leaders and people in their respective dioceses.

"If the Alert Level changes back to Level 1 on Wednesday night, we will look at having the belling and distribution of the ashes at Masses next Sunday", Dew wrote.

Meanwhile, there will be no liturgical events nor parish gatherings in the Archdiocese, including weekday Masses, until the Alert Level changes back to Level 1.

Bishop of Auckland, Patrick Dunn is also looking to the possibility of transferring Ash Wednesday celebrations.

"I need to advise you that all weekday and Ash Wednesday Masses are to be postponed in the Auckland region until at least Thursday", Dunn said on Facebook.

However, he also is not ruling out distributing the Ashes at Sunday Mass.

In contrast, the Coadjutor Archbishop of Wellington and Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Christchurch, Bishop Paul Martin SM is calling on Christchurch Catholics to sacrifice the liturgical celebration of Lent and asks the people of Christchurch to pray for those in Auckland, especially those affected by the latest COVID outbreak.

Given what Ash Wednesday means Martin said it is a source of sadness for people in the diocese to be unable to mark the beginning of Lent in this way.

Despite the short notice, he asks that no Ash Wednesday liturgies take place this year, however, notes that Catholics can still begin a time of fasting, prayer and almsgiving.

He has undertaken to distribute a prayer resource to parishes for use at home. The resource will be available today to anyone who calls into a parish to collect one.

Michael Dooley, Bishop of Dunedin, acknowledges the disruption to the start of Lent but calls on Catholics in the name of the common good to use the denial of Ash Wednesday to draw closer to God.

Dooley says that it is over to the parishes to determine whether there will likely be too many in attendance to meet social distancing requirements and the 100 person limit.

He told Dunedin Catholics that there will be no public gatherings of more than 100 people.

However, in an interesting twist, Dooley noted that although the 100 person restriction obviously means most schools will not be able to join with parishes for Ash Wednesday, they will be able to hold their own school liturgies.

Mindful of the 100 person limit and social distancing, Palmerston North parishes are doing their own thing.

Where possible, due to numbers, some will proceed, while others with larger congregations are either opting not to hold an Ash Wednesday ceremony or will work on a first come first served basis and lock the doors once the 100 person limit has been reached.

Officially the Diocese remains in wait for the announcement of a bishop, however as one parish priest told CathNews today, "We don't need a bishop, we're getting on nicely as we are."

The Bishops met early Monday morning to discuss the latest Covid-19 alert level restrictions and given the limited time between the Prime Minister's announcement and Ash Wednesday decided to respond best they could for each diocese.

Their first concern was the safety of people.

In making their decision the bishops noted the potentially volatile nature of the situation and agreed that if necessary, they will meet again later this week to consider what action is needed pending the further expected Government announcements.

The need to change Ash Wednesday arrangements came about due to the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern's Sunday announcement that from midnight Sunday, Auckland would move to alert level 3 and the rest of New Zealand to alert level 2.

The increase in alert levels follows the diagnosis of a south Auckland, mother, father, and daughter with the UK variant of Covid-19.

The new alert level status remains at least until 11:59pm Wednesday 17 February.

Source

• New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference
• Supplied: Archdiocese of Wellington, Diocese of Auckland, Diocese of Christchurch, Diocese of Dunedin, Diocese of Palmerston North.
• Image: Crosswalk.com

His teacher gave him a wipe and told him to take it off Read more

Glitter in the ashes, Rev. Marian Edmonds-Allen wrote on a whiteboard, is "a symbol of the gritty, glittery, scandalous hope that exists within all of us."

She propped the board up in front of the Braddock Road Metro station entrance, and offered sparkly ash to a stream of morning commuters. Continue reading

The Holy Trinity Episcopal Church hosted Ashes to Go, a drive-by distribution of ashes for the faithful.

"We are trying to get our church outside the four walls of our church building," said the Rev. John Higginbotham, priest-in-charge of Holy Trinity, 1956 Main Road. "We are really trying hard to get the church into the community." continue reading

The weary pope said his public farewell to his flock by presiding over the traditional Ash Wednesday liturgy and by receiving the ashes on his head, a reminder to him that while infallible he is still one of us.

In his homily, Benedict seemed to criticise recent infighting among clerics inside the Vatican.

Emphasising the intrinsic communitarian dimension of faith, and of the Church, Benedict said the church is supposed to lift up the face of Christ, but, he said, this face is sometimes "disfigured" by "faults against unity" and by "divisions within the clergy."

"The true disciple does not serve himself or the public, but the Lord, in simplicity and generosity."

"Our witness [as Christians] will always be more effective the less we seek our own glory", the pontiff said.

The apparent realisation that this was Benedict's final public mass meant the mood during Mass inside St Peter's was somber, but it quickly erupted into a rousing, minutes-long standing ovation as Benedict left for the last time.

With his voice breaking in emotion, Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone told the pontiff at the end of Mass,"We wouldn't be sincere, Your Holiness, if we didn't tell you that there's a veil of sadness on our hearts this evening".

"Thank you for having given us the luminous example of the simple and humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord," Bertone said, quoting Benedict's own words when he first appeared on the loggia overlooking St. Peter's Square after he was elected pope.

"Viva il papa!" the crowd yelled as Benedict stepped off the altar.

The Vatican announced yesterday the Conclave of Cardinals to elect a new pope would not start until March 15.

Sources:

• BBC
• The Times
• Salt Lake Tribune

Benedict XVI was scheduled to preside over the traditional Ash Wednesday Lenten Stations of the Cross at Sant' Anselmo church, followed by a procession to Santa Sabina Basilica on Rome's Aventine Hill.

"It's very clear that St. Peter's is a much bigger church than Santa Sabina in Aventino, so for a celebration in which we expect there will be a lot of faithful, bishops and cardinals who wish to be present to pray together with the Pope, St. Peter's Basilica was chosen spontaneously," Father Federico Lombardi told CNA Feb. 12.

"It's a natural motive of space and it's also necessary to bear in mind that this will probably be the last big liturgical celebration, the last Mass, presided over by the Pope with the cardinals.

"So it's normal that it occurs in his church, in St. Peter's Basilica," the Vatican spokesman said.

Source: CNA

Lent a 40-day fast in which the faithful are called to engage in prayers, almsgiving and fasting occurs as they prepare for Easter.

Father Tavite Naiveli reminded his congregation of the importance of self discipline during lent at the Sacred Heart Cathedral yesterday.

"We have to change our hearts and prepare ourselves," Fr Naiveli said.