Members of NASA’s Perseverance rover team react in mission control in Pasadena, Calif., Feb. 18, 2021, after receiving confirmation the spacecraft successfully touched down on Mars. U.S. Jesuit Brother Robert Macke, papal astronomer, said he hoped the fresh new discoveries will inspire future explorers. (CNS photo/Bill Ingalls, NASA handout via Reuters)Despite a below zero wind chill and some light snow, Father Gregory Mastey, pastor of the Two Rivers Catholic Community of Holdingford, St. Anna and St. Wendel, celebrated Ash Wednesday Mass outside. During the noon Mass held in the parking lot at St. Columbkille in St. Wendel, Father Mastey blessed salt and pepper shakers filled with ashes and then sprinkled the ashes on the heads of parishioners. Sprinkling the ashes instead of making the Sign of the Cross on the forehead is one of the special anti-COVID-19 precautions that the Vatican asked priests to take this year. (Dianne Towalski / The Central Minnesota Catholic)Pope Francis gives ashes to a cleric as he celebrates Ash Wednesday Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Feb. 17, 2021. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)A first responder attempts to put out a fire in Kinshasa, Congo, Feb. 17, 2021. A bishop in eastern Congo is urging Catholics to step up humanitarian gestures during Lent, after rebel forces stormed a church in Ituri province during Mass Feb. 14, killing and injuring dozens. (CNS photo/Kenny Katombe, Reuters)A man is treated at a hospital in Irbil, Iraq, Feb. 16, 2021, after he was injured during a rocket attack the previous evening on U.S.-led forces near Irbil International Airport. Pope Francis is scheduled to celebrate Mass March 7 at Irbil’s Franso Hariri Stadium during his four-day visit to the country. (CNS photo/Azad Lashkari, Reuters)Clark Owens of San Marcos, Texas, lights candles Feb. 16, 2021, as they warm their household with lava rocks heated in their grill. Historic winter storms this month shattered electric plants across Texas, prompting energy providers to force blackouts across the state to preserve what fragile electricity they could generate. At least 49 deaths have been linked to the storms and subsequent power outages.(CNS photo/Mikala Compton, Reuters)A two-story residence that is home to several Mount Carmel sisters in New Orleans is seen ahead of Mardi Gras, which was Feb. 16, 2021. Mount Carmel Academy art students created Mardi Gras-style imagery with wood, corrugated plastic and outdoor paint for decorations as part of the citywide “Krewe of House Floats” campaign. (CNS photo/Christine Bordelon, Clarion Herald)Antonio Cervantes of Santa Teresa, N.M., brings gifts to the grave of his wife, Gabriela, on Valentine’s Day Feb. 14, 2021. She died from COVID-19. (CNS photo/Jose Luis Gonzalez, Reuters)
Author: Catholic News Service
Catholic News Service is the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ news and information service.
