Take Up Your Cupcake and Follow Me?

This is totally un necessary as a day for feasting already exists. It’s called Shrove Tuesday. If they must give out cupcakes to commuters why not do so on Fat Tuesday–a time when Christians have traditionally eaten cakes, pies, donuts, fastnachts, pancakes, and all other sorts of goodies. Then you explain what Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday are and invite people to join in the proper season of Lent by making a sacrifice–not eating more cake.

On the St Barnabas Society FB page my friend Fr Richard Biggerstaff comments on this Anglican silliness further

I was sorry the Church of England gave out cup cakes in Leicester yesterday, not least because the imposition of ashes has really captured the imagination of the nation. Other Christians – Church of England, Free Church, Catholics and even Salvation Army were ashing all over the place. My good friend the Bishop of Horsham was at Gatwick airport and there were ashes available in shopping centres and at railway stations. There was interest and questions and lots of takers. Ashes are imposed. Few of us delight in the big black smudge, but most of us know that the realities of which the ashes speak are unavoidable. Cup cakes are nice enough but they a filled with pretend butter and food colouring. The honesty of ashes and the honesty of the soul before God is what matters in these holy days of fast. On Monday I was reminded, through a Facebook comment, that the ideas and language of our faith are often misunderstood and even treated with contempt. But the language of the cross and the sign of the ash cross still seems to resonate in the hearts of even those who think of themselves as far from the God of Love made visible for us in Jesus Christ.

Indeed. Our Western society is already glutted on cupcakes and while the people are crying out for a religion that demands something of them and promises heaven and the chance of divinization the Church of England says, “Let them eat cake.”

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