Ashes To Go

On Ash Wednesday, February 13, Christ Church, Waltham will be offering, “Ashes to Go,” a new approach to a centuries-old Christian tradition, at the Carter Street Commuter Rail Station from 7:30am-9 am.

Christ Church is part of a new nationwide 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 and invite them to repent of past wrongdoing and seek
forgiveness and renewal.

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.  For centuries, Christians have received a cross of ashes on the face at the beginning of that season as a reminder of mortal failings and an invitation to receive God’s forgiveness. Ashes to Go provides the opportunity to participate in
that tradition for people who have lost their connection to a church, or have never participated before.

“Jesus never would have confined himself to the four walls of a church in telling the good news of God’s love,” says the Rev. Sara Irwin, rector of Christ Church.

“We are always invited to push beyond our own
comfort zones and deeper into the world to share the truth of the wholeness and grace that is God’s desire for us. Ash Wednesday leads us into Lent—and Lent will find us wherever we are. You don’t have to go far to find ways we are divided from one another and from God. Ashes to Go is one way to offer a moment of reconciliation in the midst of the whirlwind of daily life.  We are dust, but we are made of
holy dust."

--Rev. Sara Irwin, Rector, Christ Church
revsara@christchurchwaltham.org
617-308-6903

More information about the Ashes to Go movement can be found at
www.AshesToGo.org