Dear Church,
Lent begins today, Ash Wednesday, with the imposition of ashes: “From dust you came, and to dust you will return.”
Two years of Covid feels like an unending confrontation with our mortality, eh? As if we needed more of this right now? 🙂
But I want to hold out to all of us the goodness of Lent, even in the midst of our slog through a pandemic. Lent provides a container for our grief, gives shape to our longing, and cultivates hope as we journey towards Easter.
It’s traditional during Lent to practice a fast (you can learn more about how we do that here) and you may want to give yourself over to that for the next 40 days.
Others of you may find more help this Lent to add a practice that creates margin: a walk, a time of silence, a weekly hike or bike ride, morning journaling, or evening prayer. I will be doing this: I’m planning morning and evening silence this Lent. I find that I need to give my body space and permission to settle in, to turn on, and to be present to what I’m carrying around with me.
One option of adding margin to meet with God is to join us on Wednesday mornings during Lent for Morning Prayer at 8am.
One more thing to mention: we are incorporating some liturgical changes for Lent, drawing from resources throughout the Anglican world.
May you commit to a practice, a fast or some kind of margin, in which God’s mercy can find you. We need God’s mercy to lead us onward this Lent.Â
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Matt
Leave a Reply