Losing Lent
March 9, 2006I missed Ash Wednesday. Growing up in the Episcopal church, the one things I always liked was the celebration of the church year. Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost along with the various special days, All Saints Day, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Ascension Sunday, Pentecost itself, the Transfiguration ( I do know my church calendar).
The church we have been attending, while I love a lot of things about it, seems to “skip” over the church year as if it is not as important. Sure, they celebrate Christmas and Easter but the rest seems to be left behind. I guess I don’t follow why those seasons are not important when it seems to me they should incredibly important, because they follow the life of Christ throughout the year.
Advent should be reflecting on Christ’s coming to this world, Lent should be reflecting on his coming death and resurrection. Being a “new” Christian (or a committed Christian now), I want to be celebrating and learning about those things in church, as well as at home. Instead, I’m hearing about being a good steward, which is all well and good but seems to be something we should be focusing on after Easter, after we remember His death on the cross for our sins and His resurrection. That should be inspiring us to want to be good stewards of our money, resources, stuff for Him.
Erin I grew up Presbyterian and came to the Episcopal church in my late 20s. I love how the church year is celebrated. I agree it is so meaningful to participate in the seasons and walk the year through Christ’s life. I am learning more about Lent every year. I keep re-reading the book Welcome to the Church Year by Vicki K. Black. About Lent she says:
“Several years ago I heard the bishop of Mass., M. Thomas Shaw, speak at the catherdral in boston of his experience of being in the Holy Land for Lent that year. There it is summer-time during the weeks bofore Easter, with the desert in full bloom, the trees laden with olives and figs, the hazy smell of ripe fruit and the sound of buzzing insects filling the air. As he moved through the days of prayer and reflection before Easter in the midst of such adundance and beauty he came to undersatnd Lent as a time of being refreshed by a loving God instead of a time of arduous effort to improve… This is not to say that Lent is a season of giddy celebration, but rather that joy in the new life we have found in the Christian faith should never be overwhelmed by our struggles to live out that faith or our awareness of the ways we fall short. The ultimate purpose of Lent is to strengthen our spiritual lives. In Lent we step back and consider the ways we need to repent, to turn around - to be converted. I usually experience repentance as sorrow and grief followed by tremendous relief and a sense of “rightness,” peace, and deep joy. It can feel like a dislocated knee or shoulder moving back into place. Repentance is not always pain-free, but it is the start of profound healing.”
Sorry if this comment is too long, but that passage was so meaningful to me.