An afternoon Mass and Ash Wednesday celebration at St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Guadalajara went well, said church treasurer Shammah Anu, attracting three times more people than last year.
“The sermon was good,” she pointed out, recalling that Rev. Dr. Betty Creamer began by pointing out that this year she’d had more than enough ashes in her life, with the houses of friends around Los Angeles having recently burned. (18,000 homes and structures were destroyed in fires and windstorms in Southern California in January.)
Creamer, along with Rev. Joel Muñoz officiated in a Mass that included choir and organ, as well as a brief litany and other special readings.
Ash Wednesday begins the 40-day season of Lent, culminating in Easter Sunday April 20. The first Sunday of Lent includes a special Litany, and all Lenten Sundays include special music by St. Mark’s six-member choir directed by Debra Matthew with renowned organist Ana Silvia Guerrero.