East Texans observe Ash Wednesday
Published 3:54 pm Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Across East Texas, people took the opportunity to pause and take stock of their lives today during Ash Wednesday services.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a 40-day season of repentance leading up to Easter.
At the Chapel of Sts. Peter and Paul, some 420 Bishop T.K. Gorman Regional Catholic School students celebrated Mass this morning and heard a message from Bishop Joseph Strickland.
Strickland told the high school seniors specifically that they have an opportunity to pause and ask themselves questions about the direction their life is headed.
“Am I walking in the light of Christ?” he said. “Do I want to? Ultimately Ash Wednesday is about repentance. It’s about a change of heart.”
In downtown Tyler, shortly before noon, clergy from Marvin United Methodist Church and Christ Church, Episcopal, stood on or near the T.B. Butler Fountain Plaza ready to place ashes on the foreheads of those who asked.
Joyce McGee, 57, of Tyler, was among those who came. Ms. McGee, who attends Christ Church, said Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season provide an easy way for people to take inventory of life.
She plans to give up some of her habits such as drinking sweet tea and use that as a reminder to refocus her life. She also plans to participate in an extra Christian discipline or activity.
