Last week we read what is traditionally known as the "Invitation to a Holy lent" on Ash Wednesday. In case you missed it, here's how it goes:
Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting.
This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism.
It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful, were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church.
In this manner, the whole Congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need that all Christians continually have to renew our repentance and faith.
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 alms-giving; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.
When we think about keeping Lent "holy," one important thing we mean is setting it apart: making the season of Lent a different season for us, both individually and as a community.
The way we set it apart is by making a point to look ourselves in the mirror with honesty about what we see, and turning away from sin where we see it. We also fast--email Katie Cole (admin@allsoulsrva.org) for a recording of our intro to fasting--pray, and give to the poor, along with intentionally reading and meditating on the Scriptures.
This is all a part of our Anglican way of being a Christian. It's not the only way, but it's a good one! And if you take up these practices (or any one of them, honestly) for 40+ days, you are going to change.
You're going to feel the difficulty of new habits, the pain of your own failings, and all other kinds of things. But the point of it all is to achieve clarity (which is so hard to achieve) about the way things--ourselves, God, the world, everything--really are. And then to find ourselves yearning, hoping, praying for the gospel to be true.
Of course, if it's not true, we're all wasting our time. There are other means to mindfulness and self-knowledge. And all those things are fine.
But the point of all of this is to prepare to receive the good news that Christ, who died, lives again, now and forevermore. And in him we will too.
The point, in other words, is to open our hearts to receive the promise of God that one day God will "will wipe every tear from [our] eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”