Can someone explain to me the popularity of Ash Wednesday?
When I was a college student, our chapel saw thousands more students than would normally attend Sunday Mass — there were three Masses celebrated throughout the day (four, if you count the ‘overflow’ Mass held in the basement simultaneously with the evening celebration), and the place was packed to the rafters. From what I hear, this is still the case there, and from what I see, it’s common elsewhere.
This perplexes me a bit. Are American youth attracted to penitence? Or is it, as I’ve often heard, the draw of “free stuff”? I have trouble believing that a dialogue like this happens with much frequency:
JOE: Hey, Steve, you wanna go to Mass today?
STEVE: Unh, naw, not really…
JOE: Dude, they’re giving away ashes today!
STEVE: Ashes?!? Sweet! I’m so there!
Perhaps I’m out of touch. I welcome any of your theories on why this day draws more Catholics to Mass than do the days on which the Church actually requires attendance.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Kate // Feb 23, 2007 at 8:50 pm
It’s simply the psychology of a CAPE Crusader (Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Easter). These masses are, apparently, the most prominent mass days of the year, though I would keep quiet about Ash Wednesday not being a holy day of obligation to the people who view the liturgical year as having only four days of consequence. They would likely not understand and “CPE Crusader” doesn’t sound as cool.
2 Keegan // Feb 24, 2007 at 4:09 am
Could it be that it is the one day of the year where people have visible reminders about Mass every time they see someone with ashes?
3 Kelly // Feb 25, 2007 at 3:41 am
We also received a lot of questions (When is a Mass today?) and apologies (I would make it to Mass if I could…) and desperate pleas for help (I’ve GOT to get to Mass today, can you help me find a ride? <–Funny, they never go to Sunday Mass). I think Keegan has a point–it’s a visible reminder or mark of your Catholicity that day and points out who made the effort to go to Mass for the holy day. It saddens me to think that receiving Our Lord in the Eucharist fails to inspire people who flock to have dirt smeared on their heads. Maybe Sunday Mass should be like voting–on your way out of the door from Mass you can get a little “I went to Mass today” sticker to boost your ego and remind everyone else of their duty. I wonder if we would suddenly see a rapid rise in Sunday Mass attendance. All sarcasm aside, let’s pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who fail to see the importance of the profound, unseen realities of the Mass, of which the outward signs of the sacramentals (like ashes) and Sacraments (like the bread and wine used in the Eucharist) only signify or are the material cause.
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