Lent is almost here already! As you know, Ash Wednesday is coming up next week, on March 6. It is an important Holy Day on the liturgical calendar, marking the beginning of the season of Lent. It is not a Holy Day of Obligation, and yet it is one of the most attended Holy Days. A lot of Catholics (and members of other denominations) really value receiving ashes. And, as we may expect, the same is true for some of the men in jail.
If you choose to, you can incorporate the distribution of ashes in your jail service. This is completely up to you, based on your preference, and your reading of the guys that attend your service. If you decide to distribute ashes, you can do it on whatever day your service is during the week of Ash Wednesday, or your first service after Ash Wednesday. We are not able to provide ashes to all the men on Ash Wednesday, so we must make adjustments. We work in the mission field, and I would think God is more concerned with the meaning of the ashes for the men, rather than the exact day we provide them!
Anyone who wants can receive the ashes – they don’t have to be Catholic. Of course, you should be sensitive to the needs of the men at your service. The ashes are for the men who want to receive them, and there is absolutely no pressure on anyone to receive ashes. Some men may not be comfortable receiving ashes. It may be they don’t understand the purpose of them, or they are not from a tradition that distributes ashes. Some men may be concerned about how the ashes look to other inmates, and even worried about the possibility of a fight because of them.
If you choose to provide ashes at your service, you should be able to get the ashes to distribute from your parish. Ask your pastor, or whoever is in charge of providing the ashes for the service at your parish (e.g. there may be a staff member in charge of liturgy at your parish). At my parish last year, the Liturgy Coordinator provided a small plastic container with the blessed ashes in it. I just returned the leftover ashes.
Have a blessed and holy Ash Wednesday and Lenten season!
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