Ash Wednesday 2013

close up of our main crucifix

ASH WEDNESDAY

St. Benedict's

15 HOURS OF ASHES

Return to the Lord!

Please join us at any time from 6:00 am right through 9:00 pm on Ash Wednesday, February 13th.

We have masses at 7 am, 8:15 am and 7pm. There is a prayer service at 12 noon. We highly encourage your participation in our liturgies or prayer service. Ashes will be distributed during Mass and at the prayer service.

Additionally, between 6am and 9pm, we will also be distributing ashes to those who wish to turn back to the Lord. Whether you have been away for one day, one year, or haven't set foot in a Catholic Church in decades, you are welcome to receive ashes as a sign of repentance and continual conversion.

Ashes are a biblical sign of penance. Here are some Biblical verses mentioning ashes - Jeremiah 6:26, Isaiah 58:5, Daniel 9:3, Matthew 11:21 and Luke 10:13.

Ashes in the Catholic Church are the burnt remains of last year's palms used on Palm Sunday. Ashes are placed on your forehead as a sign to others of your change of heart. You may hear either of these prayers as the minister puts ashes on your forehead: "Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return," OR "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel."

Perhaps the most amazing result of keeping St. Benedict's Church open all day is seeing the hundreds of people, from all walks of life, truly striving to reform their lives.  Our priests are kept busy all day hearing confessions of people who want a fresh spiritual start. It is important not to let ashes become a hollow sign; we need to repent and confess our sins.  That is the first step to changing our lives to become more like Christ.

Will you repent with us this year? Don't worry if you forgot how to go to confession; we have information about the sacrament ready for you.   Click here for helpful reminders about this amazing sacrament, including a brief explanation of why we go to confession and instructions on how to go to confession.

Please invite your friends and family members to join us Ash Wednesday. Click here for directions.
 
We are here to be the welcoming hands of Christ.  Please join us.

Confession - WHY? HOW?

Let's face it - the Sacrament of Reconciliation (commonly called Confession or Penance) is not popular. 

Pope Francis going to confession

OK so we faced it!   Now what? 

Popularity does not make something right or wrong. Coming face to face with our sins is not fun and it never will be, but it is necessary.  Perhaps it helps to think of Confession like childbirth - a painful experience that results in new life.

Admitting our sins is, paradoxically, a way of showing our deep need of Jesus, the savior of the world.  He saves us from sin!  In fact the very name "Jesus" means savior.  We do not need to hold on to our sins, or justify them to ourselves, or rationalize them, or be ashamed of them any more. Every "confession" is a profession of the saving power of Jesus Christ. 

Jesus clearly hands on His authority to forgive sins in John 20:23.  Of course, only God forgives sins, but it is equally true that God works through people! Our sins affect not only our relationship with God, but our relationships with other people.  So we face this reality when we confess to a priest or bishop.  He re-presents to us the forgiveness of God and the forgiveness of our neighbor.  How good Jesus is to make our forgiveness so complete! Remember - Jesus is both God AND man.  To be "right with Jesus" is to be right with BOTH God and our fellow man.

Here is a quote from our Metropolitan, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, given in his Presidential Address to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, November 12, 2012

"To believers also the Church must ever preach faith and penance,” declared the council fathers in the very first of the documents [of Vatican II] to appear, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. (SC, n. 9)...

The premier answer to the question “What’s wrong with the world?” “what’s wrong with the church?” is not politics, the economy, secularism, sectarianism, globalization or global warming . . . none of these, as significant as they are.  

As Chesterton wrote, “The answer to the question ‘What’s wrong with the world?’ is just two words: ’I am,’”

I am!  Admitting that leads to conversion of heart and repentance, the marrow of the Gospel-invitation. ...

Here is a short video explaining WHY we go to confession, followed by a handy link to step-by-step instructions for receiving this amazing sacrament.



Click this link for instructions on HOW to go to confession - http://www.bustedhalo.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/how-to-confess.pdf