Ash Wednesday Events

Tucker residents can find Ash Wednesday services and activities at the following sites:

•  First Baptist Church of Tucker, Corner of LaVista & Main St.  “Create in me a new heart..A Lenten Journey lunch and Bible Study cycle, Wednesdays: March 9-April 13....11:30 a.m. Call 770.938.1688, ext 210 for reservations.
• Holy Cross Catholic Church,  3773 Chamblee Tucker Road. Ash Wednesday Masses will be celebrated at 7 a.m. & 9:15 a.m., 12:10 p.m. & 5:30 p.m. in English, and 7:30 p.m. in Spanish. 

• Tucker First United Methodist Church, 5095 LaVista Road, Tucker. Ash Wednesday service, at 7:00 p.m.

• Ash Wednesday Service will be held March 9th at 7 p.m. at Norcross First United Methodist Church. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, and on this day, Christians focus on their complete sinfulness and the necessity of Christ's suffering and death. For more information, contact the church office at 770-448-4142 or visit them on-line at nfumc.org

•  St Andrew Presbyterian Church , 4882 LaVista Road Tucker. Ash Wednesday Mass from 7 p.m. until 8 p.m.

• Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 2855 Briarcliff Rd NE, Atlanta. Ash Wednesday Schedule: 6:30 a.m.  Mass, 8:30 a.m. Mass, 12 noon, Mass, 6 p.m. Bilingual Mass, 8 p.m. Bilingual Mass. There will be Mass with distribution of ashes.

•  First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ),  601 W. Ponce de Leon Ave. Decatur, Georgia 30030.  Ash Wednesday Service from 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.

• St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Norcross, March 9 Schedule of activities for Ash Wednesday:

6:30 AM

Mass and Ashes (English)

9:00 AM

Mass and Ashes (English)

12:00 noon

Mass and Ashes (English)

2:00 PM

Ash Service (English)

4:00 PM

Ash Service (English)

5:00 PM

Servicio de Cenizas (Spanish)

6:30 PM

Mass and Ashes (English)

7:00 PM

Mass and Ashes (French) – Annex

8:00 PM

Misa y Cenizas (Spanish)

8:30 PM

Mass and Ashes (Korean) – Annex

Ash Wednesday is the gateway to the Lenten season – that time, alluded to in the Book of Matthew book above as well as in Luke 4:1-13, with the trials of Jesus in the wilderness. Lent begins with fasting, repentance, and a mass where last year’s Palm Sunday palm branch ashes are sprinkled on believers’ foreheads, to remind all penitents of their mortality and a need for true humility. In a parallel journey to Jesus’ trials, believers are encouraged to pray, fast, and give more of themselves during this time. “Lent, which comes from the Teutonic (Germanic) word for springtime, can be viewed as a spiritual spring cleaning: a time for taking spiritual inventory and then cleaning out those things which hinder our corporate and personal relationships with Jesus Christ and our service to him” stateschurchyear.net, a site which furthermore provides a wealth of information covering history, information, resources, and even a list of appropriate prayers.

Even from a secular perspective, deep wisdom exists in the undertaking of a Lenten journey, especially at this time of the year, as the dreary weariness of Winter gives in to a renewed sense of life in Spring – a quickening of the pulse that never quite goes away no matter how old and jaded one gets. Furthermore, most of us accumulate far too much baggage from year to year – whether in the form of stacks of unread magazines or unopened letters, or in the shape of long-stale grudges or unacknowledged resentments. The wisdom of any spiritual practice lies in its ability to create a structure for cleansing oneself from all this rubbish, allowing us to begin, in springtime, anew.