BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID;X-RICAL-TZSOURCE=TZINFO:-//com.denhaven2/NONSGML ri_cal gem//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN VERSION:2.0 BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:This week we celebrate Ash Wednesday and the beginning of our 40 days of \;wilderness wandering \;through the Season of \ ;Lent.\nPlease join us Wednesday at 6:30 P.M. \;with a pancake suppe r and then at 7 P.M. for a worship service with Imposition of Ashes at t he entrance to the labyrinth. As you begin your walk\, you will be invit ed to consider what you might need to let go of so you can walk your pat h with a "clean heart". Holy Communion is offered at the center of the l abyrinth.  \;This is a reflective time that is suitable for children who can walk the labyrinth quietly. Childcare is available for those ch ildren who would prefer to play with their friends.\n \;The practice of the imposition of ashes began in the earliest centuries of Christian ity. Those who \;desired to turn from sin \;had ashes sprinkled on their bodies as a sign of repentance. They would recall that Job repe nted "in dust and ashes" (Job 42.6). Around the tenth century\, all Chri stians began to have ashes placed on their foreheads in the shape of a c ross \;showing publicly their need for repentance. \; The cross has within it a foretaste of the joy to come.\n \;On Ash Wednesday\, we are reminded \;that we all come from dust and to dust we will re turn. \;This is both humbling and freeing. The \;ash cross on ou r forehead reminds us that we \;all are marked with the cross and\, because of the cross\, a love that never dies. On the other side of Good Friday and the cross is Easter joy.\n \; URL:http://melrose.patch.com/events/ash-wednesday-servicepancake-supper SUMMARY:Ash Wednesday Service/Pancake Supper LOCATION:Melrose Highlands Congregational Church: 355 Franklin St\, Melro se\, MA END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR