Welcome To Lent

Throughout much of Christian history, followers of Christ have used the 40 days leading to Easter as a special period of spiritual preparation and renewal. This period is often referred to as Lent.

Lent is designed to foster lives that turn toward God. This turning toward God is sometimes called “repentance”, and it is the central movement of Lent. It helps us to remember that the story God is telling is much bigger than the story we tell about ourselves. Lent is a call to make our lives about something bigger, to join the story God is telling, and live our lives from the vantage point of God’s abundant grace.

A common way of beginning this season is to mark one’s head with ashes. The ashes are a symbol to remind us of the limits of our individual lives. We are indeed born from dust, and we will return to dust. However, when we place our lives in the context of a God whose love and mercy know no limit and no end, we enter into a perspective of eternity.

Over the next few weeks, we will challenge ourselves to turn our lives to God and entrust ourselves more fully to the love and mercy of our Creator. I pray that as we journey together, we will learn greater wisdom and find a path to greater fidelity. Easter is coming: let us travel together along the way.

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. (Luke 4:1-2)