We have a lot coming up in the next week. Let me be among the first to wish you a very Happy Lunar New Year! Sometimes called “Chinese New Year,” it’s another way of looking at time from our typical Gregorian calendar. Perhaps being a particularly lucky day, Lunar New Year, February 12, will cancel out any bad luck from last year.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Also, the Sixth Sunday of good ole Ordinary Time. Looking forward, this Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. This Lent will be different than any I have ever lived through, largely because of the on-going pandemic. It seems that we have been doing penances for a year already, not traveling, socially distancing, not meeting in person, avoiding entertainment events, and certainly dealing with economic hardships, sickness and death all around us. We have been living Lent for a year. Will we ever come to the end and celebrate Easter?

I believe we will. But we still have months and months ahead of us of vigilance, of wearing masks, of vaccines, of social distancing, of blue tape on the church pews keeping us distanced, etc. Discourag-
ing? Yes. But do not give up. We will get to the end of this, and we must continue to be vigilant and press ahead.

One of the disruptions of this Lent is the simple act of receiving ashes on our foreheads as a sign of penance and conversion. Many people, not only Catholics, but also Protestants, members of other faiths and even non-believers come to receive ashes. It is one of the very few reminders in our society of our mortality. And all people die. So ashes have a universal impact and appeal.

But this year, as in so many other ways, is different. To reduce close proximity and physical contact, ashes will be distributed in a new way. If you come to Mass and receive ashes, the person giving ashes will NOT touch you, but sprinkle a little ash over the top of your head. This has been approved and directed by the Vatican and is being embraced in this Diocese. Also, the formula for the imposition of ashes will be said only ONCE at the beginning, NOT for each individual penitent.

This will certainly be different! We also have made ashes available to parishioners to use at home. We encourage you to NOT come to church for Ash Wednesday if you are elderly, sick or not feeling well. At home you can “smudge” each other if you so choose, but there will be no smudging at church. Continue to pray for our parish, state and country, that we may continue to do all the things we should do to restrain the scourge of this virus, to quickly be vaccinated and to resume life in a more normal and healthy way. God bless!

God bless!