Editorials

I remember my mom’s exuberance when Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected bishop of Rome. Here was the first pope of the Americas and the first from the Jesuit order. Certainly, change was afoot. But not only that. The new pope took the name “Francis!”

On Ash Wednesday, I drove by a church marquee on my way to Vernon that said, “What are you giving up for Lent for God?” Hmm, I thought. That’s odd. For those of you who make the daily commute on Route 515, you know the one I’m talking about. You can’t miss it because it’s situated where the road takes a sharp S-turn. You’d crash right into it if you didn’t stay on the road. It’s that classic outdoor church sign style with black lettering on white plastic. They’re all over the place. It’s an American religious tradition often taken for granted.