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A mark of faith

Ashes represent religious tradition for students, beginning of the Lenten seasons of sacrifice

February 5, 2008

St. John’s Student Parish’s director of Student Outreach/Development, MSU alumnus Steve Wolbert prepares to burn palms outside the church, 327 M.A.C. Ave., for Ash Wednesday. He is joined by the parish’s administrative assistant and MSU alumna Colleen Tinsey and director of Communication and Special Events Mary Rundell. The church will offer seven services throughout Wednesday. It expects 5,000 of the estimated 7,000 churchgoers to be students.

It’s natural for people who don’t know what the ashes represent to point them out, Meredith Nelson said. “It’s like when you have food in your teeth, you’d want to tell them,” Nelson said. The history freshman, who is Christian and doesn’t celebrate Ash Wednesday, said she has never actually seen anyone wearing ashes. While some students are unfamiliar with Ash Wednesday, the day is celebrated widely on MSU’s campus by the more than 5,000 people who attend mass at St. John Student Parish, 327 M.A.C. Ave., throughout the day, church administrator Keith Tharp said. The ashes used to mark peoples’ foreheads are burnt palms remaining from Palm Sunday the previous year.

Tharp, along with several other church affiliates and students, gathered Tuesday outside the church with a basketful of palms. While the palms burned quickly, they can take several hours to smolder down to ashes, Tharp said. Once in the ashen form they are blessed by a priest.

“The mark on foreheads is a mark of ownership,” Tharp said. “It shows we are a person who belongs to Jesus Christ.

“Some people will say you have dirt on your head. That gives you an opportunity to talk about it and your beliefs. When you actually tell them, they get it and feel funny for asking.”

Tharp said he prefers people ask about the ashes rather than assume he has something on his head.

Holding her last cup of Starbucks coffee for the next 40 days, political science and pre-law freshman Liz Kim prepared to participate in her first Lenten season.

Kim, who is Christian, said she chose not to observe Ash Wednesday and Lent in the past, but not for religious reasons.

“I’m giving up coffee (for Lent). I wanted to see if I could do it for myself,” she said.

Landscape architecture junior Jeff Edmonds said he usually sees a lot of people walking around campus wearing ashes.

“There is a bond between students walking on campus with (ashes),” he said. “Seeing everyone walking with crosses on their foreheads is a uniting feeling.”

He said he has gotten the occasional double-take from students while wearing ashes around campus.

“Last year, when I was sitting in class, a student said ‘You have something on your forehead,’” Edmonds said. “After I told him it was Ash Wednesday, he got it.”

Today, St. John Student Parish offers seven masses, which helps advertising senior Cristina Jamo fit the service into her schedule.

“I usually go in the evening,” said Jamo, the special events intern at the church. “Wearing the ashes all day is definitely a consideration (of mine), but it mostly just depends on scheduling.”

Jamo said she is excited because she is distributing ashes for the first time at the 10 a.m. mass today.

“After receiving (ashes) for so many years it will be special to give that back to everyone who comes to church,” she said.

At its core, Ash Wednesday is a way to connect with similar people, said Steve Wolbert, MSU alumnus and director of Student Outreach/Development at St. John Student Parish.

“We don’t walk around with things that say ‘I’m Catholic,’ or ‘I’m Christian,’ but this is the one day you can do that and make a connection you might not normally make,” Wolbert said.

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