I love Ash Wednesday. It's wonderful after Mass to suddenly realize who's Catholic, especially when it's a person who I never even suspected to be remotely Christian. I'm also interested in the reactions I get. I went to the 8 AM Mass at St. Matthews, (young Fr. Frodo gives an excellent homily and has a lovely singing voice) and then went to work.
A couple of co-workers launched into some mildly offensive Catholic jokes. I wasn't upset I just wondered if their lives were so wicked that the mere sight of ashes on my forehead was enough to turn them into min Bill Mahers.