Each year Ash
Wednesday begins the Season of Lent, a Season of 40 days, not counting Sundays,
which continue to be considered Feasts of our Lord Jesus Christ and which
precede the marvelous day of Easter in which, of course, we celebrate Jesus’
Resurrection and His victory over death, sin and all that stands between us and
our great God. It is a period of 40 days in which the Church invites us to set
time apart to refocus all our attention on the things that truly matter in
life, and not those that are passing away so easily and with increasing speed,
things of everlasting consequences, things that transform life as we know it in
the here and now. It is a period of 40 days that set us apart from all
that surround us, inside and outside of ourselves to bring us into a closer
relationship with our God and our Lord.
For Lent to have its
full effect in our discipleship, repentance, renewal and continuous walk in the
Spirit, we have to consciously plan for it by giving ourselves to daily
spiritual disciplines such as the reading of God’s Word, prayer, meditation,
solitude, fasting, sharing our lives with others in Christian love, sharing the
Gospel with others who may ned to hear of God’s love for them, caring for the
poor and the destitute, and even the abstaining of those things and/or personal
pleasures that might take us away from doing these things just listed.
Conscious planning and execution of these disciplines will make for a very
successful Lenten Season.
The marks for the
beginning of Lent are Ash Wednesday and the sign of the cross made with ashes
on our foreheads. The sign of the cross with ashes on our foreheads signal that
we recognize that we are created
beings and that we did not create ourselves or depend on ourselves for our
existence or even our daily sustenance. The ashes on our foreheads also signal
that we were not created from gold or silver or any other
precious metal or stones, but from the very dust of the earth to keep us humble
and earth focused. The ashes also signal that we are mortal, that the breath we breathe and the life we live comes from
the Lord our God and that outside of Him there is no life in us. The words
spoken over us as the sign of the cross is made on our foreheads with ashes
keep this idea in view, “Remember that you are dust and to the dust
you will return.”
But Lent also reminds
us that there is life beyond our mortality, that the God who gave us life from
the beginning is the same God who gives us life for all eternity through His
Son our Lord Jesus Christ. That beyond the struggles of life and the sacrifices
of life and the mortality of life, there is an Easter morning waiting for us.
Peter reminds us of this in 1 Peter 1:3-5, after recounting our new birth, he writes, “to a
living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for
you, who
are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed
in the last time.” Lent is a rich time of introspection, growth and maturing.
Let us use it well and to God’s glory.
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