Sunday Newsletter

Masses Today

6.30: Edward Egan, (Anniv).
11.00: Jimmy Lennon, (Anniv).
6.30: Tom Tierney, (Anniv).

AS I WAS SAYING.....

The rededication of the Church here last Sunday will not be easily forgotten by those fortunate enough to be present. As John Coyle remarked in his few words at the end: "This Church has been renovated before. But you can be sure of this: it will not be touched again in our lifetime. Here you see the stamp left by this generation, for generations." And what an impressive stamp it is! As is to be expected, the architecture faithfully reflects the generation that stamped it: open, bright, confident, and challenging. May the liturgy, as we celebrate it, live up to the challenge thrown down! The most obvious challenge is to involve our lay people fully in every aspect of our liturgical celebrations.

From that point of view, I found last Sunday's liturgy truly uplifting: the local church gathered in celebration around its bishop and its altar. It was especially gratifying to see the young people involved as altar servers. Some sturdy veterans even agreed to forego the comforts of retirement for the occasion! Thanks especially to the young men and women who tended the altar after the anointing and those who led the congregation in the Prayers of the Faithful. We are indeed a 'graying church'; but it is so encouraging to see such vibrant young people prepared at least to 'dip a toe in the water'! (Incidentally, Simon Williams and Niamh Donlon from the Augustinian Project Office devised, researched and produced the beautiful booklet. A real work of art, above and beyond the call of duty!)

So that's it now. Our Church is 'up and running' at last. It is up to ourselves now to put it to the best use possible. You will forgive me for quoting from Eliot's wonderful 'Four Quartets' again. It expresses well our present location on 'the journey':

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

-Dick Lyng

Items of Interest

The history of Ashes

The liturgical use of ashes originates in Old Testament times. Ashes symbolized mourning, mortality and penance. There are many Old Testament examples. Jesus himself made reference to ashes. "If the miracles worked in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have reformed in sackcloth and ashes long ago" (Mt 11:21).

The early Church continued the usage of ashes. Tertullian (c. 160-220) prescribed that the penitent must "live without joy in the roughness of sackcloth and the squalor of ashes." At this time too, for those who were required to do public penance, the priest sprinkled ashes on the head of the person leaving confession.

In the Middle Ages, those who were about to die were laid on the ground on top of sackcloth sprinkled with ashes. The priest would bless the dying person with holy water, saying, "Remember that thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return." After the sprinkling, the priest asked, "Art thou content with sackcloth and ashes in testimony of thy penance before the Lord in the day of judgment?" To which the dying person replied, "I am content." In all of these examples, the symbolism of mourning, mortality and penance is clear.

Eventually, the use of ashes was adapted to mark the beginning of Lent. The ritual for the "Day of Ashes" dates at least to the 8th century. About the year 1000, an Anglo-Saxon priest named Aelfric preached: "We read in the scriptures that those who repented of their sins bestrewed themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies with sackcloth. Now let us do this little at the beginning of our Lent that we strew ashes upon our heads to signify that we ought to repent of our sins during the Lenten fast." Since this time, the Church has used ashes to mark the beginning of Lent, when we remember our mortality and mourn for our sins.

In our present liturgy for Ash Wednesday, we use ashes made from the burned palm branches distributed on the Palm Sunday of the previous year. The priest blesses the ashes and imposes them on the foreheads of the faithful, making the sign of the cross and saying, "Remember, man you are dust and to dust you shall return," or "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel." We renew the promises made at our baptism, when we died to an old life and rose to a new life with Christ.

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