Today begins our forty days in the desert to prepare for Easter.

Remember you are dust and to dust you will return.

Today is Ash Wednesday, a date that appears on my Hallmark calendar along with Groundhog Day and Presidents’ Day. I find it curious that the beginning of the season of Lent has wound its way into the culture while so many other feasts have not. (For example, neither the Feasts of the Assumption nor the Immaculate Conception make the calendar cut, although both are holy days of obligation, unlike Ash Wednesday.) Perhaps it is because of the outward sign of the imposition of ashes.

For most of my life, I have spent Ash Wednesday in a Catholic environment. One year when I was not, however, proved the most memorable observance to date. As a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, I occasionally went to daily Mass at a chapel that ministered to students on the campus. I attended the packed noon Mass on Ash Wednesday, and returned to my office to sit vigil for the sparsely attended office hours (except before an exam!) that I diligently offered. A student did appear to chat and ask a few questions, and I noticed his furtive glances at my forehead. He finally awkwardly (but kindly) informed me that I had some stuff on my face. Surprised, I fumblingly explained that as a Catholic I had received the imposition of ashes to mark the beginning of Lent and to remind me of my mortality. It was one of the few times I felt set apart as a Catholic. For the remainder of the day, it was interesting to walk through the department and campus and see those who were marked. A few unknown students stopped me as I crossed the quad later in the day to ask where they might get ashes or find Mass. The occasion seemed to foster unity among those marked with the ashes, while simultaneously setting us apart from the others. I am too young to remember when all Catholics abstained from meat on Fridays, but I imagine a similar solidarity existed among the fish eaters. (Our family has returned to the tradition of abstaining from meat on Fridays throughout the liturgical year, as do many of our friends, but it is far from a universal Catholic practice these days, and probably (possibly?) not required under current canon law.)

For the rundown on all the Lenten rules and controversies, check out this great website.