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It’s Ash Wednesday, and Graduate Student Amanda Morrison made time today to get and give ashes. Morrison believes Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent, can also be a good start for people to make positive changes in their lives.

“It’s so nice to have a specific period of time set aside to examine your life in some way,” Morrison said. “Anything you might change, or give up, or increase.”

Junior Joe Brown is another student getting ashes today and will definitely be making time to get to church tonight.

“I’ve done it throughout my whole life. I feel obligated as a catholic to do it,” Brown said. “Jesus gave his life for us. So, I don’t see why I can’t go one night and get ashes.”

But students like Brown and Morrison aren’t just getting the ashes because it’s something to do. Local Eucharistic Minister Lorenzo Thomas believes there’s a much deeper meaning behind it.

“The ashes are to remind us that as human beings we’re still mortal,” Thomas said. “That our lives are going to end, and that we’re going to turn back to the dust that we came from. So, we take the ashes, and we place them on the head of the faithful.”

And whether you get or don’t get ashes, Brown makes it clear why he’s attending church tonight.

“Because Jesus gave his life,” Brown said. “So, why can’t you go and do something better.”

Contact Anthony Ezzo at [email protected].