Father Popovich, seriously injured in a crash, gave students a lot to ponder on Ash Wednesday

YOUNGSTOWN

Reflection remains a mainstay of Lent, a time of prayer, penance and fasting to prepare for Holy Week and Easter.

The 40-day period, excluding Sundays, began Ash Wednesday.

The guest homilist for Mass at Ursuline High School, 750 Wick Ave., gave students plenty to ponder.

The Rev. Richard Murphy, UHS president, invited the Rev. Steve Popovich to participate in Mass and deliver the sermon. Father Popovich was seriously injured in a car accident Nov. 12, 2013; he continues rehabilitation at Liberty Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, 1355 Church Hill-Hubbard Road, Liberty.

Father Murphy told the students, “There are opportunities in faith to go in new directions in our lives and out of the darkness of the world. God gives us the new vision we need.”

Father Popovich, who uses a wheelchair, moved among students, faculty and guests seated on the gym floor while other students were in the bleachers.

He recalled a major fire when he was a youth; a business was there one day and reduced to ashes the next. “It was a phenomenal change,” he said. “The ashes we use today are from burned palm branches. They’re used to mark a change in us. No one is promised tomorrow. Ash Wednesday is about living in the present and taking advantage of each day God gives us,” Father Popovich said.

Read more of his remarks in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.