Saturday following Ash Wednesday - An Experience in Cleveland, Ohio

My Lenten journey began this year with the plaintive sound of an oboe centering the couple hundred persons who had gathered in silence at The Community of Saint Peter's to the worship of God. Those assembled rose like a unified team on a mission and sang responsively with the choir a Litany asking for God’s presence and grace in a multitude of situations.

One petition called for God to “save us from the prison of addiction” to which the response came: “Hold us in your mercy.” My mind raced to the many men and women I have pastored to over the years who have struggled with an addiction of some sort – alcohol – drugs – overeating – debting. I recalled my own struggles with addiction and how grateful I am for family and friends who have supported me one day at a time.

Then something happened that I will never forget. At the conclusion of the Litany, the priest neared the altar where four small containers of ashes had been placed. He instructed the congregation that we were going to mark the sign of the cross on each other’s forehead. Taking a clay bowl, he moved to one of the four sections of the congregation, marking an individual’s forehead and they in turn began to mark the forehead of the person next to them. It was beautiful, moving, and it seemed to me as if time itself began to stand still. I felt an abiding presence flowing among those gathered. Through this symbolic action, the assembled were opening ourselves to a saced mystery that is beyond description and yet is real and tangible.  

I watched as friend turned to friend, stranger to stranger. Some persons used their thumb and smudged a small cross on the individual’s forehead. Others took three or four fingers and really smeared the person’s head.  An older man standing in the front row lovingly and tenderly anointed his wife’s head with the ashes. She received this sacramental action with an openness that made it clear that she understood not only the blessing of the moment but the certainty of a much more profound truth - that every Christian is on a journey that will eventually lead to our death and our resurrection.

Finally, the small bowl of ashes made it to our row. A young woman very gently made the sign of the cross on my forehead. She moved her lips, and while I could not make out what she had said, my response was that she was blessing me with these ashes. Receiving the bowl from her, I turned, placed my thumb in the ashes and marked Kathy’s head saying: “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” It is a humbling act to make the sign of the cross on the forehead of the person you love most in this world remembering that this sacramental action of Ash Wednesday is tied to the moment of our baptism into the Christian Way and Life and the promise that each person is “marked as Christ’s own forever!”

The single lesson for the evening was taken from Paul’s letter to the Church in Ephesus. It was very well read by an older woman who had meticulously prepared and had made the text her own. This is the portion of the Scripture that she read:

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

The sermon, as always, was excellent. The listeners were encouraged to spend more time reflecting on our dirty fingers from the ashes rather than the cross on our forehead. We were challenged to get our hands dirty this Lent in the loving and compassionate mission of God. “Lent can be one of the most selfish times of the year. That is not what it was intended to be,” the preacher stated. We are called to be about the mission of Jesus working for justice and making a difference in our world.

What I truly enjoy most about this particular faith community is the way in which they pray. The intercessions that followed the Homily were offered by a lector with a choral response. Near the conclusion of the prayers, the congregation was invited to offer their own petitions. This group is not afraid of casting their cares on God. The concerns raised were heartfelt, passionate, intentional and authentic.

A Blessing.

The sharing of the Peace.

We were on our journey to Easter Day.

The words to the final hymn tied all the themes of the Lenten season together. 

Refrain:

Return to God with all your heart, the source of grace and mercy; come seek the tender faithfulness of God.

Verse

Now the time of grace has come, the day of salvation;

Come and learn now the way of our God.

Return to God with all your heart, the source of grace and mercy; come seek the tender faithfulness of God.

Verse

I will take your heart of stone and place a heart within you,

A heart of compassion and love.

Return to God with all your heart, the source of grace and mercy; come seek the tender faithfulness of God.

Verse

If you break the chains of oppression, if you set the prisoner free;

If you share your bread with the hungry, give protection to the lost;

Give shelter to the homeless; clothe the naked in your midst;

Then your light shall break froth like the dawn.

Return to God with all your heart, the source of grace and mercy; come seek the tender faithfulness of God.

Thank you to Father M. and the members of The Community of Saint Peter’s in Cleveland, Ohio for providing such a sure spiritual foundation in which to begin the forty day journey of Lent.

Love One Another - Brian

If you would like more information about this community of faith, click here.