tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34346296.post4627727689036709956..comments2023-12-25T23:40:17.701-05:00Comments on Confessions of a Carioca: Ashes to Go?Daniel Martinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15980949721733826978noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34346296.post-8575499064109153642010-02-20T00:24:35.068-05:002010-02-20T00:24:35.068-05:00Ironically, you and Elizabeth Kaeton are on the sa...Ironically, you and Elizabeth Kaeton are on the same side about this. Not two folk I usually expect to find in agreement, but there you are.<br /><br />I think there is a very real danger or concern about separating the symbol from the context. It risks making the symbol incoherent. And even for those who "get" what the symbol is about, it risks being seen a cheap grace.<br /><br />In terms of the first concern, I think that the version of this reported from the Diocese of Missouri seems to be an improvement. While Mr. Hensely in Chicago apparently simply imposed the ashes with the traditional admonition to remember that you are dust" &c. the ecumenical initiative in St. Louis(?) established at least something of an abbbreviated liturgy to give some better context. The film suggests it took about three minutes for the mini-liturgy.<br /><br />I think the "cheap grace" risk presumes another age. Here in post-christendom, it isn't like the vast majority of those folk would even have thought to go to a "proper" Ash Wednesday service. By being "in the marketplace," these clergy will have gotten some people thinking - which can only be a good thing.<br /><br />So, on the whole, I come down to a sense that it is the germ of a good idea, but that the execution needs some work.Malcolm+https://www.blogger.com/profile/08469936715413110334noreply@blogger.com