PANDEMIC ASH WEDNESDAY
Though Wednesday officially marked the start of Lent for Christians, clergy around the Valley told The Arizona Republic that this year’s observance is merely a continuation of what has essentially been an 11-month-long Lenten season in which millions of people have given up what they love for the greater good.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a 40-day season in which Christians reflect on past sins and repent for them. It is common for those who observe the season to fast or give up something in order to focus more deeply on their relationship with God.
The Right Rev. Jennifer A. Reddall, the sixth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona, said Episcopal churches have modified traditional Ash
Wednesday rites in order to ensure safety in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Churches within the diocese have been holding services outdoors, and clergy on Wednesday were offering ashes with Q-tips or cotton balls, or putting them in plastic bags so that observers could place the ashes on themselves at home.
Reddall said there’s more to Ash Wednesday than imposing ashes, though — it’s about reflection and repentance.
“It’s a time to sort of go through all the ways in which we fall short of following Jesus and take a deep look at it,” she said.
Reddall said the day will “definitely land differently this year for everybody,” but she also said that, in some ways, Ash Wednesday this year is a continuation of a metaphorical Lenten season that has continued through the pandemic.
“I think this year, the invitation is less about giving up things, because people have already given up many, many things,” she said. “I think the invitation this year is to that inward reflection and recognition that we are reliant upon God. We don’t have the strength to get through this on our own.
“Usually, Ash Wednesday is this really powerful reminder of our mortality, and again, I feel like we’ve been reminded of our mortality for the last 11 months, so that message instead of being something that stands out against the rest of the year, is something that is very much contiguous.”
She sees a powerful metaphorical connection between the light at the end of the tunnel as vaccine distribution ramps up, and Easter coming after a period of deprivation and sorrow.
“I think for many of us right now, the Easter hope we are wanting is restoration to community, and to health and restoration to daily life for people, which isn’t going to happen on the timeline of Easter 2021, but I think we are getting to see a glimpse of hope with the vaccine,” she said. “There’s a sense that this will end, Lent will end, this Lent we’ve been experiencing for the last 11 months does have an end coming.”
Offering prepackaged ashes at a light rail station
The Very Rev. Troy D. Mendez, dean of the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Phoenix, spent Wednesday morning handing out prepackaged ashes and prayer cards at the light rail station near Central Avenue and Roosevelt Street.
He said that as each train stopped at the station, about two or three people on average approached him for ashes and that he’d served between 50 and 60 people by 9:30 a.m., though he noted that cathedral teams would be stationed in areas around downtown Phoenix throughout the day.
Mendez wore gloves, a mask and stayed 6 feet away.
“This was a really good way to keep the integrity of that going while at the same time offering people a ritual they were familiar with on a year-to-year basis,” he said.
He said that as he handed out ashes this year, he advised people to remember God’s love for them and how He is always present — even through the most difficult of trials.
“That seemed to resonate with a lot of people,” he said.
Mendez said those who approached him for ashes seemed to be “most concerned” about their family and said some even asked for prayers to help them find an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine or community resources that could help guide them through the process.
He pointed out the ancient origins of ash imposition and talked about how the Hebrew people spent 40 years in the desert after being freed from slavery.
God was always with them and provided for their needs, even during their hardship, and Mendez said remembering that part of Scripture offers hope in light of the pandemic that as of Wednesday had taken the lives of more than 2.4 million people around the world.
“It means that we are in a huge community and a huge fellowship with people all over the world,” he said. “We’re remembering today, not only our losses from the past, but we’re remembering also that God continues to guide us and God continues to love us into a new reality, into a new era where we can still encounter blessings and love from one another, and also from God.”
Mendez said throughout the pandemic he has been heartened by the “overwhelming” amount of generosity and kindness he’s seen from people striving to help others even as they themselves experience hardship brought on by the virus outbreak.
“Even in my own congregation, I had a slogan that we used in the fall: ‘While the world became smaller, Trinity became even more fully alive,’” he said, citing the cathedral’s partnership with local public schools to promote literacy, work with food banks to feed the hungry and other outreach efforts.
“I couldn’t be more proud,” Mendez said of his congregation.
He would like to see that spirit of selflessness continue even after the pandemic subsides.
“I hope we’ll see practices of kindness and love and generosity continue in our world, and that will eventually change the world completely,” he said.
‘Focus on being kind’
Though he, his congregants and everyone throughout the world are living through abnormal times, the Rev. Rob Clements of the All Saints Catholic Newman Center in Tempe said the center wanted to “observe as normal a celebration of Ash Wednesday as we possibly can.”
“The whole world is tired of COVID,” Clements said.
The center followed the ordinary custom of smudging foreheads with the ashes, but Clements said those participating would be wearing masks and observing physical distancing to the extent possible.
The center on Wednesday offered brief, 10- to 15-minute services at the top of the hour from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., as well as longer Masses at noon, 6 and 8 p.m. Their services were also offered virtually for those who didn’t feel comfortable attending in person.
Clements said he’s had congregants describe the dilemma of wanting to give up something for Lent but that they aren’t sure where to start because of how much they’ve already given up in the last year.
He echoed Reddall’s sentiments in saying that perhaps this year, Lent could be about adding something to one’s life instead of taking something else away.
“Look around at the world, I see people kind of closed in on themselves,” he said. “There’s an awful lot of unkindness happening.”
“Really focus on being kind. Everybody’s fighting a great battle within themselves. Try some understanding.”
Though he sees unkindness in the world, Clements said he also sees the efforts of those working to spread kindness, generosity and love in honor of the God who first offered it to them.
“I almost get a little emotional because people are so devotional, they’re so devoted to God and their faith — it’s a wonderful thing to see,” he said.
Lent concludes with the celebration of Easter, which commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after his crucifixion in Jerusalem.