The "A Word"

After the merrymaking of Fat Tuesday comes Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.

This morning I went to the all-school Mass.  The students sit in the front of the church by grade, and other people fill in behind them.   I got there a few minutes before the entrance procession started down the center aisle.  There were eight students at the front of the procession. Each carried a circle with a letter written on it. When they reached the altar, they turned around and their letters formed the word ALLELUIA.

The priest pointed out that during the season of Lent, we don't use the "A word" at Mass because it's considered an Easter word. By taking it away for a while, at Easter we'll have a new appreciation of how joyful it is.  He gathered all the letters, rolled them up, and slid them into a tubular container, then closed it with the lid and said it will be put away in the school until Easter, when the letters could come out again.

Five years ago today: Out On The Town