BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Christians observe Ash Wednesday, a solemn day of fasting and reflection and the start of 40 days of the Lenten season leading up to Easter. Churches from different denominations across our community offered ashes. I visited two different ashes distributions in Williamsville and Lackawanna.
"Oh, it's extremely important. So, I just wanted to make it a priority for the day, and that's why I'm here," Kaitlin Walton of Buffalo said.
I spoke to Walton as she headed through the Calvary Episcopal Church in Williamsville, now celebrating its 10th year of offering "Ashes to Go" drive-thru service, providing a convenient option for busy parishioners.
"It's extremely helpful, especially when you work very early and you don't have time in the morning to make it to church," Walton said.
Reverend Robert Harvey leads the church. He tells me the innovative service aims to meet people where they are in their daily lives while responding to changing needs in the community.
"I think they are coming back in their own way. They're telling us what they need, and so we want to be responsive to that. We feel like Jesus met the disciples where they were, where they worked," Harvey said.
At the same time, Father Harvey tells me Calvary is seeing more new and younger faces attending church.
“We have new faces in the church, and they're young faces with young children – to me, that's listening to what their needs are in the community is essential,” Harvey said.
The drive-thru service has grown significantly in popularity, with more than 1,100 people receiving ashes through the program last year.
WATCH: ‘It's really fun to just be closer to God’: Ash Wednesday marking the start of the Lenten season
"It's just important for us to remember our faith and enjoy the day and say a lot of prayers for others," Lisa Radel of Williamsville said.
The church is also handing out wristbands with the message "I’m practicing the pause" to encourage reflection before reacting in our daily lives.
Betsy Accurso, 18, from East Aurora, liked heading through the drive-up ash distribution, making it easier for busy teens to keep the faith.
"I feel like it's a really good way to start the Lent season," Betsy Accurso said.
At Our Lady of Victory Basilica in Lackawanna, Catholics filled the church to standing room only for the traditional Ash Wednesday Mass.
"There's a hunger that people are realizing that they need in their lives, and the only way you are going to satisfy that is turning to God," Monsignor David LiPuma, pastor, OLV said.
Monsignor LiPuma also told me he’s seeing the trend of younger generations attending Masses at OLV.
"I do think it's probably because these young people are just saying there's got to be more to this world than I can see," LiPuma said. “The world today, the culture today – I think our country, there's so much divisiveness and I think people are looking for what brings people together.”
17-year-old Tierney O'Hara expressed enthusiasm about participating in the religious observance. She says she always attends church with her grandmother.
"It's really fun to just be closer to God and just experience what everyone else experiences," O'Hara said. “I feel like a lot of the younger people are coming with their grandparents and they're just keeping the tradition alive, so it's really nice to see.”
Maureen O’Hara, of Lackawanna, is Tierney’s grandmother and an OLV parishioner, who tells me having her granddaughter in church with her means “everything”.
"They need something to fall back on and to believe in and it's just really important," O'Hara said. “If you have God in your life, you have everything.”
"This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy."
