Margaret Felice

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Media
  • Calendar
    • Upcoming Performances
    • Upcoming Speaking Events
  • Speaking
  • Publications
  • Performance
    • Biography
    • Repertoire
  • Contact
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Ashes at Starbucks

February 20, 2012 · Filed Under: grace, liturgical calendar ·

Let’s get one thing straight: I am not anti-ashes.

I know people who get all worked up over Ash Wednesday, because it is a popular liturgical holiday which is not a Solemnity, and conjures more excitement from the faithful than, say, the Feast of the Assumption. People make a big deal out of “getting ashes” even though it’s not obligatory. So some people see Ash Wednesday as another sign of those “greedy” cultural Catholics who will only come to church when they are going to get something. I do not share that sentiment.

People want signs, and ashes are a fine one. Mimicking our baptismal anointing, the ashes form a cross on our forehead proclaiming to whom we belong. So all the people, even those who haven’t given much thought to practice or theology during Ordinary Time, line up to “get” them.

I say this all to make the case that I am pretty laissez-faire about the practices of Ash Wednesday – most of our Lenten practices are customary, that is, there are few rules about how they must be done. No rule says ashes can only be distributed during mass. No rule says you have to go to mass on Ash Wednesday. And as the practice is common in many Christian churches in addition to my Catholic Church, there are as many ways to celebrate the rite as there are Christian communities.

But still, this was just too much: Celebrating Ash Wednesday outside of Starbucks. Isn’t it natural, on a day of fasting and repentance, to catch people after they’ve grabbed their morning indulgence and ambush them with ashes?

Forgive that one cheap shot. I really do respect the energy behind their ministry. But I think the practice is misguided. No matter how pervasive the movement of American individualism is, I refuse to believe that faith is something you do on your own. That’s why we come together in faith communities to practice. Sometimes our faith requires us to show up. If we want to participate in this custom that marks us as Christians (and that is not obligatory!) then the only way to express that desire is by showing up.  But my belief in the value of community isn’t my only hang-up.

What is often forgotten is that ashes are a sign of repentance. It’s not just that we are sporting our Lenten forehead fashion out of Christian pride: this smudge should also be a sign that we know we are sinners and we have committed ourselves to turning our lives around. For the sake of those in Starbucks, I hope that encountering an ash-er on the sidewalk will inspire them to “repent and believe in the Gospel”, but I fear it will only increase complacency.

Yes, as the article mentions, Jesus went out among the people and ministered to them. But when he did that he made great demands of them. His demands were not judgmental or pushy but manifested his high expectations. I think he truly believed that people could “go and sin no more”, give away all that they have and follow him”.  Yes, grace is free, but it’s not easy. It calls us to discipleship and repentance, not to skip off sipping our latte. I’m not convinced we do people any favors by making it easy to do something that is supposed to be difficult.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • More
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit

Related

7 Comments

Comments

  1. Jen says

    February 21, 2012 at 12:47 am

    “grace is free, but it’s not easy.”

    Word.

    Not really “feeling” Lent, here. Still don’t have a parish (and without a car, it’s hard to get anywhere else), and losing one’s job makes it feel like Lent started early.

    Reply
    • felicemifa says

      February 21, 2012 at 8:14 am

      Sorry to hear that friend. In a lot of ways I’ve been feeling similar. Might post about that tonight.

      Reply
      • Jen says

        February 21, 2012 at 8:35 am

        Could always be worse, though. Does make you appreciate what’s going right, you know?

        Reply
  2. amanda p says

    February 21, 2012 at 7:29 am

    your last paraagraph is the perfect summation. i respect and appreciate religious practice (especially being one who participates) but if the goal is “to go along the path with folks,” it seems there should be way that seems more for relationship and less for show, imho.

    Reply
    • felicemifa says

      February 21, 2012 at 8:14 am

      Thanks. I was hoping not to come off like too much of a scrooge. It’s not that I don’t want everyone to have the opportunity for relationship, just that I don’t want the ashes to become an empty symbol. Thanks for reading!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Annual Ash Wednesday Round-Up | Felice mi fa says:
    February 13, 2013 at 6:03 am

    […] Finally, a post from yours truly: Ashes at Starbucks […]

    Reply
  2. Your Ash Wednesday Assignments says:
    March 5, 2014 at 5:38 am

    […] Reflect …on why we have the practices we do. If you have a particular Ash Wednesday practice, Ashes or otherwise, why do you do it? Some of my thoughts on Ashes are in a post from the archives, Ashes at Starbucks. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

More about Margaret

Subscribe to Blog

Sign up to get my posts delivered to your inbox.
How often would you like to receive updates?

Recent Posts

  • A place for grief to go
  • Post-op
  • Eating a tomato sandwich in October
  • Stubbornness and grace
  • Of Streets at Night

Topics I’ve Written About:

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets
  • Home
  • About
  • Biography
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Media
  • Performance
  • Publications
  • Repertoire
  • Speaking

Search

© 2022 Margaret Felice · Headshots by Earl Christie · Website by Little Leaf Design

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.