Ash Wednesday Homily
This photo was taken in San Agustin Cathedral in Laredo, Texas, during Holy Mass on Ash Wednesday 2017. Laredo, as a primarily Hispanic border city, is also a overwhelming Catholic (roughly 85%). Needless to say, the marker of the beginning of the Lenten season is extremely significant for the faithful of our community. Bishop James Tamayo, First Bishop of the Diocese of Laredo, is pictured at the front of the Altar in his Lent vestment as he pastors to a full noon-time Mass. The pews full of souls thirsting for The Word and for renewal of faith through the desert season. The offering of the blood and water of Christ is in focus as a representation of the focus of Christ's ultimate sacrifice and what we, the Church, prepare ourselves to receive.