A HOLY LENT

Dear Friends in Christ:

“I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent….” (The Book of Common Prayer, page 265)

What would it mean for us to observe a holy Lent? I suspect that for some of us Lent is thought to be a gloomy season, a time for giving up things that we really like or taking on activities that we don’t really enjoy. Yes, Lent can be a time for giving up and taking on, but both the giving up and the taking on during Lent have one purpose. They can be ways that God uses to open us up to God’s love.

When we give up something for Lent, we do it to make room for a deepening experience of God’s love for us. Even good things can get in the way of that deepening experience, especially when our focus is on the gift and never on the Giver. When we take on some spiritual discipline, we do so in expectation that we will be changed in the process. One spiritual practice that has been part of our parish life for many years is the Way of the Cross. Small groups of parishioners will walk the Way of the Cross in the Church each Friday evening at 7 during Lent, and others will do it by themselves at other times. I can recall quite well the first time I took part in the Way of the Cross and how profound and unexpected was the experience of God’s love for me that evening. Even though that experience has never been repeated as I have walked the Way of the Cross at other times – and I did not think it would be – each time I find a new experience of God’s love.

Of course, we are not “cookie-cutter Christians,” and the ways in which each of us can observe a holy Lent will be unique. But I hope that each of us will find the Lenten practices that open us to deepening experiences of God’s love.

Your brother and priest,

Daniel