Pope Francis Encourages New Design for Imposition of Ashes on Ash Wednesday/Valentine's Day

Vatican City - February 13, 2018

In an effort to combine the penance of the first day of Lent with the sentiment of love associated with Valentine's Day, Pope Francis has asked the College of Cardinals to encourage clergy around the world to change the design of the imposition of ashes tomorrow from a cross to a heart.  "I hope this will remind people both of the brevity of live and the love of God," said the pontiff.
Pope Francis's new ash imposition design

People were receptive to the change.  Some were reported to be canceling dinner plans to get the new design of ashes.  "I'm glad the church is getting with the times.  Several hundred years of the same thing was getting old," said Maria Torres of Sacramento, CA.  The change was reported to be well received by Unitarians, who found the traditional iconography of the cross to be not inclusive of non-Christian faith traditions.

Response of clergy was mixed.  "It will be like I'm giving everyone in the parish a Valentine," said Fr. Michael of St. John's Catholic Church in Pittsburgh, PA.  "It will be great.  I've already practiced drawing the heart on the nuns."

Other clergy were not as enthusiastic.  The Reverend Joseph Sykes of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Rye, NY was somewhat dubious of the new design.  "I don't know about this.  I'm not very much of an artist.  Half the time my heart looks like a tomato."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My favorite places in DC that are no more

Image
First off, a proud admission.   I was BORN in Washington DC.  I have lived half my life in DC, though that includes all of the last 17 years.  It has of course changed a lot since a) I was born and b) since I moved back in 1996.  There are many places that, as I look back, made my life in DC.  Some are still around.  Many are no more.  After reviewing the places below, I realized most are bookstores, movie theaters, and pizza places, plus some other bars and restaurants.  If those ain't your thing, perhaps find some other idle reading.  Here I will give homage to places that were precious to me that are no more.  Those that died recently include pictures I found on the web. My biggies - Some places when they disappeared left big holes in my life, only to be filled with liquor and second rate pizza. Childe Harold   My first legal drink in DC was at Childe Harold.  I spent evenings after working at Olsson's sitting at the bar with a burger and some beer.  I saw World Cu
Read more

MPC Miniature Military Vehicles: 1960s toys

Image
The 1960s was the golden age of plastic toys.  It was the first full decade of mass produced plastic toys of a wide variety.  Yes, toys are still overwhelmingly made of plastic, but if you look through toy stores, there is a tendency to have nodes of toy lines, Lego, Disney, Fischer Price, Thomas Trains, etc, frequently tied in with movies and television.  Back in the 60s shelves were awash with inexpensive, royalty-free toys of different kinds even if they were manufactured by a couple companies.  Toy vehicles were a favorite for boys, and, before the growing awareness of the Vietnam War reduced their popularity, tanks and other military vehicles were a favorite subject.  A particular favorite toy set of mine was, and still is, the Miniature Military Vehicles produced by MPC.  They came in a set of 40 different items, each vehicle about an inch long, representing the armies of the US, Germany, UK, USSR, and France.  Most were a single molded shape, though half of the vehicles had a
Read more

A year ago, I buried my parents

Image
A year ago, I buried my parents.  It was a sunny crisp day, not quite autumn anymore but not quite winter.  It had been rainy and ugly for several days and we commented on how nice it was to the priest from my parent's last parish, Father Sari, who we met in the parking lot at Arlington National Cemetery.  My dad was a disabled vet from World War II, so he and my mom were eligible to be buried there. They died only a few weeks apart, so their burials were scheduled for the same day. We entered the Administration building and were sent by the respectful folk at the entrance to one of the waiting rooms downstairs.  Arlington does a couple dozen funerals every day, so they have the process down to an efficient yet dignified science.  Some friends of mine and my brother and his wife joined us in the room.  An official brought in some paperwork to sign and then brought us outside.  The grave was close to the building, strange considering the size of the place, with over 400,000 graves
Read more