Speak up!
Interesting.
So are your beads proudly hung from the rear view mirror or did you forget to take them out of the glove box? Are they the same color as the "If this van is rockin' - don't come a knockin'" bumper sticker?
Beads, coins and other trinkets are thrown from the floats to the crowds.
And my bumper sticker isn't purple, gold or green ... so NO they don't match. :-D
Come to think of it...I think I saw you on a commercial for some video...hmmm...what was the name of that? I remember that I had to turn my head away because it was so scandalous...oh yeah...It was called Girls Gone Wild - Mardi Gras.
Us poor, simple yankees do have TV, you know.
If its a matter of what others might think, definitely ON. If its "I've had them on all day and its time for my shower," go ahead and wash them off.
"Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father."
My personal take tends to be more toward the "I'm Catholic and this is my witness..." but I've been known to vacillate due to not wanting to "show off."
Ahh, if only I had that kind of pride, I might not be such an ass. 
They are throwing handfuls of those things off the floats constantly. All you have to do is catch the beads when they come your way.
Rick ... that sort of pride UCC is thinking of (and that our priest in RCIA mentioned to our class) is that of the Pharisee standing praising himself to God for fulfilling all of the obligations.
One may as well say that, to avoid appearing holier than thou, a sister out to remove the habit, or a priest ought to remove his collar, or a married person ought to remove his or her wedding ring, or a parish ought to remove the cross from its building. But the problem is not the ashes, or these other outwardly signs, it is the pride. Stop the pride, stop taking pride in a perceived humility. Do not relegate or limit God to the church building. Take Him and your witness out to the world, show the ashes, not as a sign of your "holiness," but as a sign of your sinfulness and need for salvation from someone greater than yourself.
That's the bad thing about Lent -- having to give up those "Girls Gone Wild" videos.
Second, when you see someone with ashes on their forehead do you think, "oh, that person is so holy"? Or on the flip-side, "that person is such a hypocrite; I happen to know he did..."? Of course not. I know when I see someone with ashes on their forehead, I think, "heh, Catholic" or "Oh, that's right... I can't forget about Mass tonight".
I just can't see how this humbling little sacramental that is predicated on a visble sign could ever be considered vainglorious. We don't care that the other people at Mass see us receiving ashes, do we? Wouldn't our fellow parishioners be those who we would most be inclinded to "show off our piety" to? Yet we're going to worry what a perfect stranger thinks? Get your ashes and wash them off whenever you would wash your face and give no thought to it other than recalling that you're just a worm like the rest of us.
LOL So I guess you won't be "seeing" Julie during Lent, eh?
And good post on the ashes, Number 6. Amen to all you said.
I've heard of "fools for Christ" -- are "boobs for Christ" the same thing?
(sounds of people gasping and fainting for suggesting such a thing)
:-D
My girls have a bunch of them that they use for dress-up.
Julie, you have to realize that for men, it's ALWAYS eighth grade. That's why they still think that "Bachelor Party" is a great movie when they are in their mid-thirties.
Or Meet the Parents ... right, Rick? And I wanna know what rhonda is talking about ... c'mon, 'fess up!
:-D
First of all, Rhonda. It's called Put-IN-Bay. It's a town in Ohio, but more precisely it's an island in Lake Erie. It's a big party spot for boaters - sort of like Mardi Gras on the water every weekend in the summer.
You'd fit in great there, Julie. They throw beads of boats instead of floats. Not that I know anything of that kind of behavior...it's just that guys talk...I listen.
As for washing off the ashes...we were absolutely forbidden to wash off our ashes when we were younger. Our mother would lecture us at length about not being ashamed or embarrassed about it.
I have to admit that I have been tempted to wipe them off if I had to go to work. I've only seen two other people have ashes at any job I've ever had. One was a judge, the other an attorney. Go figure.
Maybe I'll call up buddy Rick instead.
I say they are two things you should bring to PIB. Beer and Rick.
Again -- if you are going out to have a big juicy steak at the local strip club before topping it off with a couple of hits off a crack pipe, by all means, wash them off first. Otherwise, keep them on.
The bigger question is -- a true fast (water only), or the so-called squishy fast that they have these days where you're allowed one big huge meal and a couple of smaller ones??
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