Vicar Reflects......
March 2010
“The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart you will not despise.” Psalm 51 v17
I write this my February blog on Ash Wednesday, so I thought that I would take some time to reflect on the season of Lent.
Lent is the period leading up to Easter and is generally seen as a period of fasting in preparation for Easter. The season takes its inspiration from Jesus’ lonely struggle to resist temptation in the wilderness.
For some of us, it is a time of self discipline, when we give something up. It could be chocolate or alcohol. Alternatively, we could take something such as more bible study or we could read a book that helps us reflect on the season.
The introduction of the Ash Wednesday service with the imposition of Ashes are very poignant:
Brothers and sisters in Christ: Since early days Christians have observed with great devotion the time of our Lord’s passion and resurrection. It became the custom of the Church to prepare for this by a season of penitence and fasting.
At first this season of lent was observed by those who were preparing for Baptism at Easter and by those who were restored to the Church’s fellowship from which they had been separated through sin. In course of time the Church came to recognize, by a careful keeping of these days, all Christians might take heart the call to repentance and the assurance of forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel, and so grow in faith and devotion to our Lord.
I invite you, therefore, in the name of the church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self –denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy word.
Whether we fast or not, Lent is definitely a time of self-examination and repentance......... a turning back to God, reflecting on those things that get in the way of our relationship with him. It could be our addictions, bad habits, spiritual laziness or apathy. The forty days of Lent give us the time and space to recall and confess past sins, in preparation for celebrating Easter and the resurrection of our Lord, who died for our sins on the cross.
I like to think that the season of Lent is like a spiritual spring clean for our souls so that we can welcome our risen Lord, after throwing off those things that prevent us from following him more fully.
A PRAYER FOR LENT
O Lord Jesus Christ, you taught your disciples to pray,
to do good deeds and to fast cheerfully without
hypocrisy or ostentation; help us to use this season of
Lent sincerely for your service, so that we may pray
more, do more and discipline ourselves cheerfully for
your sake; for you died for us but now you live, for ever
and ever, world without end. Amen.
For those who feel that this winter has been a long one, some words to cheer you up. Lent comes from the old English word for Spring, ‘Lengten’. It refers to the lengthening days of early spring when the sun rises higher in the sky and shines longer on earth.
Jeanette
