For me, the sacred space we create by offering the Ashes is the "special moment." The rules of social interaction are suspended. Strangers put down their car windows or face us Ashers on the sidewalk and invite us into their intimate space. They bow their heads and allow us to call them by name...
South African poet Roy Campbell (1901-1957) was an adult convert to Catholicism. Campbell's piety was eccentric but sincere.
Once, when his wife chided him about being irregular in his attendance at Mass, he made this startling reply: "Ninety per cent of Christian doctrine you can...
