February 26, 2021
This Ash Wednesday, in accordance with a notice from the Congregation for Holy Adoration and the Sacraments, many American dioceses will be moving in the customary manner of painting the cross on the forehead and saying one of two possible rites to each recipient. No ashes were distributed. Instead, they sprinkled ashes on the top of their heads and recited the formula once to the entire congregation, ostensibly to combat the coronavirus.
Today’s guest, Gail Finke, has written a thought-provoking article, not so much about the appropriateness of changing our usual habits due to this year’s pandemic, but about the attitude that is often taken when discussing Ash Wednesday each year. I did.
Interest in outward rituals, including rare opportunities to openly testify to faith in public, is the province of those with little or superficial faith, and even those with vanity. There is a kind of spiritual elitism that assumes that there is. People who oppose seemingly unnecessary changes are said to be overly concerned about unnecessary things. However, the experience of the past few decades has shown conclusively that the elimination of “unnecessary” devotions has had a devastating effect on the Catholic faith.
External expressions of dedication are important. The little things that make Catholics stand out are important. Constant change and disorientation are not good for God’s people. It is arrogant to assume that those who oppose it must have little faith. This indifference to the reality that many people of weak faith can easily turn away when denied the church’s rites of “you don’t have to go to mass, just receive spiritual communion” is cruel. Legalistic.
link
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/LYkXheSxHFXs
Gail Finke: “Are we also going to throw away Ash Wednesday?”
https://www.crisismagazine.com/2021/are-we-going-to-throw-out-ash-wednesday-too
Thomas Humphreys “The Case of the Great Pandemic Liturgical Flip-Flop”
https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/the-case-of-the-great-pandemic-liturgical-flip-flop/
Driving Home the Face, a radio show produced by Gail www.sacredheartradio.com
Episode 84, Don’t Obey Lockdown Now w/Douglas Farrow and Andrew Bush
https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/84-disobey-lockdown-now-douglas-farrow-andrew-busch/
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