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Dear Friends,
I have always found the season of Lent a bit paradoxical. Lent is a somber season, with its invitation to penitence, self-denial, and the way of the cross. But even as we begin the season of Lent, invariably we are also approaching an appointment with the first day of Spring, followed by Spring Break, and finally the ultimate celebration of resurrection and life, Easter.
Not only that, the old Anglo Saxon meaning of the word Lent is lengchten, which literally means “longer,” because the days are growing longer day by day.
Of course, the forty days of Lent are a reminder of the forty day fast of Jesus in the wilderness. The six Sundays in Lent are excluded from the forty days because every Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection of our Lord.
But this strange blend of hopeful contrition and muted joy is also a reminder of the realities of our lives: that through the spiritual disciplines of self-denial we are able to truly savor the joys of grace; that even in the face of death, we anticipate the promise of new life.
So, I encourage you in this holy season to allow your anticipation to build as we follow the way of grace to the passion of the cross of Holy Week, and the breaking light of Easter Sunday.
In Christ,
Tom