WASHINGTON — Tune into ESPN this afternoon at 5pm Eastern, and you’ll catch Around the Horn, a lively and informative sports talk show hosted by Tony Reali. You’ll also see a Catholic symbol on prominent display: a cross of ashes smack-dab on the host’s forehead.
Reali, a cradle Catholic and current parishioner at St. Augustine’s in Washington, D.C., has worn ashes for Ash Wednesday his “whole life,” and he has been doing so for the 13 years he has appeared on TV. The 35-year-old husband and expectant father says his decision to keep the ashes on while on air isn’t anything extraordinary — just the simple product of living the faith.
“I’m a sportscaster and a television host, and I’m Catholic,” Reali told the Register.
The New Jersey native says his faith has been a constant influence throughout his life, from his days growing up in an Italian-Catholic family of nine to his time at the Jesuit-run Fordham University and now in his professional life. Wearing ashes while on national TV is simply staying consistent.
Reali also noted the symbolic power the simple gesture has: “I think it’s important for people to see someone young in a public setting stand for what they believe in. Stand for religion. I’m proud and want other people to feel they can be proud of what they believe in.”
Still, not everyone who watches the show is clear about just what Reali believes in — or what exactly is on his forehead each and every Ash Wednesday.
The sports website Deadspin has documented some of the confusion in recent years, highlighting tweets from people who mistook the sacramental sign for dirt, ink or even a bruise from a fight.
But for every ignorant or insulting comment, Reali can point to many more messages of support. He also credits his co-workers over the years for their openness to his act of faith.
“I’ve been fortunate to have always worked in an environment that has allowed me to be myself, and I appreciate that,” he told the Register.
Wear to Work
Reali isn’t the only Catholic in the public eye preferring to wear his ashes when going to work.
Catholic politicians like Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., have been known to proudly display the mark of Ash Wednesday while on the job.
And although he has been criticized for his support of abortion rights and the redefinition of marriage, Vice President Joe Biden wore ashes at a 2010 press conference, prompting confusion and criticism — and later, embarrassment — from media members covering the event.
Of course, millions of Catholics working normal jobs wear their ashes to work, too.
“It’s just never crossed my mind to wipe them off,” said Leslie McClellan, who works at a Washington think tank. “I don’t see it as unprofessional, because it’s a small mark on my forehead that I get once a year, and I’ve never been told it is.”
The 26-year-old said her workplace, like Reali’s, is open to the public display of faith.
“I never feel like I’m the only one in the crowd with the ashes,” McClellan said. “There has always been someone else with the ashes on their forehead where I’ve been.”
Also displaying the sign of Ash Wednesday to work is Mattias Caro, a 34-year-old business consultant who works for an international software developer in Virginia. He says the ashes are primarily about recognizing his own need for repentance at the beginning of Lent, but they are also a natural conversation starter and present an opportunity for a bit of evangelization.
“Friends will ask or make a mention about them during a coffee break,” he said. It gives him an opportunity to “explain the purpose behind the ashes and perhaps, if I’m feeling brave, invite a co-worker to Friday’s fish fry at the parish and Stations of the Cross.”
But some practicing Catholics refrain from wearing their ashes to work — either by choice or by law.
Katie Petrik is a preschool teacher in Las Vegas, teaching with the Head Start program. The 24-year-old says program policy prevents her from wearing her ashes on the job.
“We are legally not allowed to teach or visibly practice religion in Head Start, so, no, I would not wear them to work.”
Also deciding against wearing ashes into the workplace is Kevin Gallagher, a 25-year-old management consultant who works in Manhattan. Gallagher cites an office environment that “runs on conformity” as the primary factor in his decision.
“Nobody wants to be remarkable, except in ways that reflect well on you as a worker,” he said. “Anything else is seen as a liability.”
And Gallagher also believes that it’s a mistake to view the mark of ashes as an “evangelical tool.” Too often, he says, people wear them publicly for the wrong reason.
“It really doesn’t mean ‘I am a sinner’ so much as ‘I am a somewhat pious Catholic,’” he said of the impression displaying ashes can communicate publicly.
Bearing Witness to the Faith
Holy Cross Father Michael Wurtz agrees with Gallagher: Ashes should not be viewed primarily as a tool for evangelization, nor should Catholics wear them publicly for the wrong reasons.
“We do not pray the Mass, for example, so that we can be seen,” said the priest, who is studying for his doctorate in liturgy at the Sant’Anselmo in Rome. “Our Lord warns against those who exalt themselves.”
Rather, Father Wurtz says the ashes should be received as “a sign of penance and recognition of our need for ongoing conversion in Christ.” He said the centuries-old tradition is an appropriate beginning to Lent, a season in which “we are mindful of our baptism, of the ways we may have fallen in the Christian life and of Christ’s voice beckoning us to follow after him more and more.”
Still, Father Wurtz says that if displayed in public for the right reasons, the ashes can bear witness to the faith, fulfilling the duty of the laity to evangelize within their families and places of work in a small way.
“To a secular person who is unfamiliar with the Church and her practices, a dark smudge on the forehead can be perplexing or even considered freakish,” he explained. “This is unfortunate, but it can be a great opportunity to explain this Christian practice.”
Father Wurtz also noted that, while the ashes aren’t a sacrament, they are a sacramental, “a visible sign that signifies our interior disposition of repentance and our commitment to respond to God’s love and grace.” While he says the Church doesn’t mandate Catholics to keep their ashes on all day, Fr. Wurtz says it’s “irrational” to receive the ashes only to wipe them off, a practice he strongly discourages.
“For a variety of reasons, in the United States, we can tend to be sheepish about expressing our faith, whether in words or signs,” Father Wurtz said. “Ash Wednesday reminds us that expression of our faith in Christ is not limited to the confines of a church building and its four walls.”
‘Marked’ as a Catholic
Father Wurtz’s use of the word “sheepish” might apply to some Catholics who choose not to wear ashes in public, but it certainly doesn’t describe all of them.
In fact, Reali, the ESPN host, admits that he “struggles with the publicness” of displaying his ashes on national TV, but for far different reasons other than cowardice. His main worry has been that non-Catholics might criticize his decision as an effort to force his faith on others.
But Reali sought counsel from a trusted friend, Father Bill Dailey, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame who assuaged his concerns.
“He told me, ‘It marks you out as a Catholic; but other than that, it marks you out as a person, acknowledging your own sin, vulnerability and mortality. Hard to see how that should give offense, except to one looking to be offended.’ ”
So Reali will continue to wear his Ash Wednesday ashes on air, both this afternoon and in the future — not in an attempt to insult anyone, but as personal expression of his faith.
And the fact that his decision might lead curious viewers to learn more about the Catholic faith is all for the better, he said: “If I’m looking at the complete picture, it’s led to a greater dialogue about Catholicism and faith and religion, which I think is a good thing.”
Register correspondent Jonathan Liedl writes from Minnesota.
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Some thoughts: While Jesus said: “When you fast, wash your face and anoint your head….”), etc., Ash Wednesday is a “communal” event, which is different from the public display of individual fasting that Jesus was referring to. The ashes are intended to remind both us and other people who see us, that penance is required due to sin. Whether those who see us have this precise understanding, many—if not most non-Catholics these days still have a general idea.) Also, do we ever experience a bit of “embarrassment” with the ashes on our forehead and want to remove them? (There, is another perspective—and all the more reason to leave them on our forehead for the day!)
Jerry, I find it fascinating that you qualify yourself more “moralistic” than any of those Catholics that attend Mass on Ash Wednesday. You may be more prideful, but that is about all the “more” I see in your comment. Any Catholic who attends Mass on a Wednesday, when it is NOT a Holy day of Obligation, has already made a wonderful statement. To presume they will not follow the requirements of Lent is not moralistic, just presumptious and judgemental. Worshipping Catholics know it is not a competition. The only one we seek to please and the only one whose opinion matters is our Lord Jesus Christ. That is why we can walk around all day with a huge black cross on our forehead. We don’t care what others think about that, it is our witness of the one we love.
Really? How many of those public-minded Catholics really live a Catholic life? Yeah, right. The next Friday, I’ll be eating meat. I’m more moralistic than any of those Catholics.
We need to be reminded, “from dust thou art, until dust thou shall return.”
What a great penance, stared down by the TSA boarding a flight on Wednesday. A little pin prick for my Christian faith.
Its important to have a good answer ready when people ask us about it…my answer is normally “it is a reminder that we begin as dust and we end as dust and all we have in between is a great gift” . I once worked in a hospital in Calif that was in a heavily Mexican and Filipino area…I figured everyone would have ashes and yet I was alone in it at work.
My daughter who is a recent full time High School teacher wore Her ashes until days end yesterday.Walking the walk and talking the talk.
The only comment I got was from a grocery store checker, who is a Hindu. I told her it was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, and it was a catholic practice to have the ashes marked on the forehead. She said she had a lot of people come through her line marked with ashes, and was glad to know the reason. I don’t associate the ashes so much with fasting as with a public acknowledgement of being sorry for how much I fall short, and making a conscious attempt to improve in service to others.
My Jewish friend wears his yarmulke out of piety and I wear my ashes out of piety- it is called “respect” and America needs more of it. I had Siekh co-workers who wore turbans and Hindu co-workers who had a dot on their forehead- all good and all signs of faith, so why not wear a sign of Christianity?
By the way, when I grew up the nuns who taught me told us we were forbidden to remove the ashes until we washed our faces before bed! So, I leave mine on all day.
I saw a few local Protestant churches advertising/announcing about the distribution of ashes during a special Ash Wednesday service in the religious directory of “Washington Post” the other day. One Episcopal church advertised it was “taking it to the street”!
Of interest, Lent started on Monday in the Eastern-rite Catholic and Orthodox Churches.
Proud to be a Catholic and proud to wear the ashes everywhere I go. This year, not many people even commented of them, so I almost forgot I had them until seeing myself in a mirror. Then, all I could think of is what Fr Pat said when he put the ashes on my forehead. Catholics, be proud and happy about your faith and church. It’s the one Jesus established and will be here til the end of time. God bless you and have a blessed Lenten season.
I do think wearing ashes is a sign of piety, something that one does to be seen. I think a better sign of piety that they are sinful, would be to remove their endorsement from any organization that they belong to that is in contradiction with what they say the believe and pray for; an organization like the pro-abortion, pro-sodomite marriage, anti-Constitutional First Amendment Right of Freedom of Religion Democratic Party. Then when they are striking their breast while saying the penitent prayer at the beginning of Mass they can truly express their sorrow for contributing the electoral power to that organization enabling it to keep abortion-on-demand the law-of-the-land all these years resulting in the murder of 57,000,000 unborn babies they profess to believe were created by God.
Please note that not just Catholics wear ashes. Anglicans, Lutherans,Episcopalians, Methodist and others do as well. And they wear their ashes in the workplace also
I am not ashamed to show my love for my Lord and my faith. I was jeered by some black youth in the store, was stared at by shoppers, was smirked at by the cashier. their ignorance is not a reason for me to be ashamed or hide.
Lots of selfies going around social media ... #AshWednesday #AshTag
Remember ...Catholics are not the only ones who receive ashes on Ash Wednesday . Many Protestants also mark Ash Wednesday as the beginning of the Lenten season and have incorporated ashes into their services. So when you see someone with ashes on their forehead don’t automatically think “Catholic”.
I appreciated this article. I especially appreciated the words of the Holy Cross Father, who warns us not to wear the ashes for the wrong reasons, but also encourages us to continue to wear them - in other words, to not stop wearing them out of fear that we’re doing it for the wrong reason, but rather, to keep wearing them and to pray that God would help us to do it for His glory and the witness of our Catholic faith.
I was tempted to wipe them off today, so I’m glad I found this article. I think it’s best to leave them on, as I did last year. Some coworkers last year thought it was a smudge of dirt (one of my coworkers made like she was going to lick her fingers and wipe it off, as she would with her child), but I explained and they understood.
Hal, I agree with you. The literal sense of the reading is the same as the moral sense, ie that our acts of repentance should not be visible. The spiritual sense of Our Lord’s words is that transformation in Him works from the heart outwards. The sacramentals serve purely to direct our attention inwards, to the heart. The tropological sense of the passage is that Jesus came to do penance and reparation for the whole human race and for most of his hidden life and public ministry he presented a cheerful and attractive face to others. Only when he was forced to did he allow himself to be presented (Ecce Homo) as the Suffering Servant. We are not forced to do this and in my view it would be better for us to wear the ashen cross only in the ‘secret room’ of the Church and thereafter, in our hearts.
Ash Wednesday is one of my favorite days of the year to be at work. I love being Catholic, and I want the world to know it. I work in a public library, and if I was told I could not have ashes, they would have a (polite) fight on their hands. It may make some of my co-workers who have left the Catholic Church a little uncomfortable, but that may be a good thing.
I am Catholic & proud. I am tired of seeing so many displays of negative symbols worn. My ashes give me the pride that I am a practicing Catholic, give others a chance to ask what it means, & to share in learning more about the faith. I am proud of being Catholic!
I rock my ashes proudly!
Hal, context is important to that passage. The wearing (publicly and privately) of ashes has deep roots in both Judaism and Christianity. Christ was correcting those that had the outward appearance, but not the inside change of heart: primarily, Jewish leaders at the time. He was getting at “rend your hearts, not your garments” (Joel 2:13—part of the First Reading today).
Katie Petrik: your civil rights are being violated by the regulation/law you cite. Could this be an opportunity being presented to you by the Lord? (Same rhetorical question for Kevin Gallagher.)Mark 8:38 - “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
I am a proud Catholic and I wear my ashes everywhere I go.
If one is wearing ashes solely to make a statement that they are fasting, then yes, it would go against the reading. That is not why we receive them or keep them on. I am pretty sure that the Church, in her 2,000 year history, leads us correctly in this.
I feel sorry for Gallagher. He is the perfect example of one who is of the world. His desire and need to conform to those around him in his workplace is a pretty strong statement of one who puts the world before God and the concern of how others think of him before the way the Lord thinks of him. His workplace is exactly where someone should be witnessing to their faith.
Public ashes would seem to run afoul of Matthew 6:16-18
16 “And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Ashes “disfigure” the face. Jesus tells us when fasting that we should not do that, and that we should wash our faces instead, so that the fasting is secret.
On the other hand, the OT reading for today in Joel calls for a public fast. Maybe Jesus’ directive is not for such public fast days - everyone knows you are fasting anyway?
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