Ash Wednesday

It's Ash Wednesday. I had secretly set my heart on returning to Lafayette for this day. I wanted to mark the day with some familiarity--people, songs and ritual at our old parish.

Life, however, got in the way of that plan. Kevin needed to see one of his doctors today and I need to be there with him for these appointments. Again with the new of what's "normal" in our lives.

So tonight found us at the local parish. After a good private afternoon cry of disappointment and a certain embarassing amount of resentment toward the changes in my life, I determined that I could make the best of this too.

And it wasn't half bad. One of the nicer things about being Catholic is the ritual. While things aren't the same from parish to parish or region to region, things are amazingly similar because of the ritual of the Mass. And tonight that similarity was as good as the familiarity that I thought I needed.

So Lent--that time of great change and renewal--begins.