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

The Non-Profit, the Tanning Booth, and the Mercedes-Benz.

Image
No, this is not an attempt to parody C.S. Lewis by drawing together three disparate items into an allegorical children's story about sacrifice.  I work for non-profits, the first of the items above, and like all people and organizations, non-profits have to file a tax return.  For a 501(c)(3), the tax return is the IRS Form 990, in which the organization reports its income, expenses, and activities for the year.  Our auditor draws up our Form 990 as part of the annual audit. I review the form to make certain all of our answers make sense, the numbers are reported correctly, and that all the board members' names are spelled correctly.  This year, I noticed an interesting question: Tanning Booths?  Non-profits?  A 501(c)(3) is tax-exempt because it carries out worthwhile artistic, educational, or social programs.  I know there are a lot of strange things going on in creating the tax code.  But how do tanning booths mix with most non-profi...
Read more

Flipping toy soldiers on ebay--a good haul

Image
Today people buy and then resell houses, cars, and other items, a process commonly called flipping.  Some of us "flip" toys, including my former student and master flipper Will .  He hits garage sales and estate sales and sells his finds on his own website .   I just cruise ebay while watching tv.  I just had a great flip of toys I found on ebay.  I will pay homage to the master toy-flipper with this post. Two weeks ago I found a bunch of toy soldiers and vehicles for 18.88 including shipping.  It was described by the seller as "Large Lot of Old Junk Military Men Landscape & Vehicle Toys Small and Bigger sizes"   and the photograph shows a bunch of soldiers of different sizes, globs of plastic, and pile of plastic pieces.   Like a prospector in the Klondike, I saw gold in that pile.   I was happy it was Buy it Now on ebay so I didn't have to bid against other prospectors.  I've sold some of it in separate lots.   Let's see ...
Read more

Old Dinky toy tank

Image
A couple months ago, I bought a toy that's over 70 years old on ebay.  It's a metal toy model of a tank the British army used between the two world wars.  The raised lettering on the bottom reads "Dinky Toys  Made in Britain."  The turret turns around and the tracks made of small chains move, so that you can move the tank on the ground or a table. It definitely looks like something from a different time.  The body of the vehicle has lots of rivets and rigid shapes that recalls the appearance of a steamship.  Which would make sense as the tank was thought of as a land battleship, which would stand at the edge of a battlefield and engage enemy  land battleships while smaller tanks raced around the battlefield.  Its turret resembles that of a battleship, while two guns extending from the sides of the chassis that resemble the secondary guns of a battleship for defending against smaller ships.  It was a familiar vision to Britain after decade...
Read more