TOTH will distribute Lenten ashes to people Wedensday morning on the sidewalk near Starbucks in downtown Los Alamos. Courtesy photo
TOTH News:
On Ash Wednesday, Feb. 14, Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church will be offering “Ashes to Go,” a new approach to a centuries-old Christian tradition, 8:30-10 a.m., on the sidewalk near Starbucks on Central Avenue.
Trinity on the Hill is joining, for the first time this year, a worldwide movement that has clergy and lay people visiting transit stops, street corners, coffee shops and college campuses to mark the foreheads of interested passers-by with ashes.
“Ash Wednesday is an important day for Christians worldwide,” explains The Very Rev. Christopher M. Adams, rector at Trinity on the Hill. “We take some time to remember our mortality by having our foreheads smudged with ashes and to confess the ways in which we fail to live as our best selves. By God’s grace, however, we can be renewed and restored through the grace and mercy of God.”
In the Christian tradition, Ash Wednesday marks the start of the holy season of Lent, a time for reflection and repentance in preparation for the celebration of Easter. Ashes to Go provides the opportunity to participate in this tradition for people who are unable to attend a Wednesday church service, who have lost their connection to a church, or have never participated before.
“The problem with Ash Wednesday is that it’s always on a Wednesday!” Adams said. “Unlike Easter, which falls on a Sunday when most people don’t work, the busy-ness of our lives often prevents people from making it to an Ash Wednesday service. This year, however, we are bringing the ashes to you with Ashes to Go.”
Since 2007, members of major Christian Churches, including Episcopalians, Anglicans, Catholics, Lutherans and Methodists, have participated in the Ashes to Go program and discovered passers-by hungry for a moment of prayer, renewal and grace, he said. Those who had no time to attend services or had forgotten or not known about the tradition are delighted to receive ashes with prayer as they began their day.
Trinity on the Hill also will have Ash Wednesday services at 7 a.m., noon and 7 p.m. Feb/ 14 at their church at 3900 Trinity Dr. Contact Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church at 505.662.5107, for more information about Ashes to Go or any of the services. More information about the Ashes to Go movement can be found at www.AshesToGo.org.
