Urban Ashes: Lent in the City

The University where I teach part time is in an urban setting, so when I went to teach this past Wednesday night, I was kind of amazed at what I saw. It was, as you know, Ash Wednesday. I had been to Mass at 7:15 that morning, and it was going to be a long day (the class I teach meets from 7-9:40). I was walking through the student commons to get a drink, maybe coffee before class when I started seeing something that made me smile. There, on an urban campus, crosses on people's foreheads.

Mine had all but disappeared, but these student's ashes were going strong. And I didn't just see one or two, but dozens of students who had ashes imposed. It was quite the joy to see. They greeted each other and acknowledged others marked with the sign of the cross. In some ways I felt like I was back in the second or third century, one of the brothers of Christ among the pagan world (then again, it's not much different now is it?). It was a great thing to witness!

The University is not a Catholic school, but a Cathedral is just about smack dab in the middle of campus and holds a "University Mass" at 5 pm. That's where they had been (after some research I found that the Cathedral was the only place that had service around that time on campus). So not only had they bucked the cultural trend and were marked with the cross visibly for all to see, but they had done so at Mass! What a great thing to see.

Let us not be afraid to visibly wear our faith. This culture, this world needs more than ever to be reminded of its responsibility and even more so that its God is not that of retail or money. For the next week, try and wear a crucifix or cross on your clothing or around your neck, but keep it visible. There's nothing silly about showing your faith, we as Christians have so much to "brag" about ;)